Adidas Brings AR to Footwear
Adidas is ushering in a digital age in footwear with their new Originals AR Game Pack shoes. That’s right augmented reality on your feet.
The shoes come in a set of five colors exclusive to select Champs Sports locations and Eastbay online. The experience is part of Adidas’ virtual Originals Neighborhood. Wearers will be able to hold their shoe up to a webcam unlocking a challenging gaming experience and exclusive content with the AR codes on the tongue. Users play games by using the shoe as a controller. New games will be launched each month starting in February and ending in April of 2010. Shoes range in price from around $70 to $99.
The games come in a variety of flavors. Starting with a Star Wars game where the user fires blue paint balloons at Stormtroopers. In the second game the user skateboards through a 3-D neighborhood performing tricks and navigating their way through obstacles. The third game being released in April is more musically oriented. Users become their own DJ and create beats.
From a retail perspective; Adidas is doing a great job engaging their consumers by creating a lasting conservation. Not only do they engage with their consumer in-stores and online during the purchase experience; they keep them coming back for more. Consumers will show their pride for the brand by wearing their products around as well as engaging online. The experience builds the brand and makes consumer feel a part of something exclusive and cutting edge. Word of mouth and digital WOM will be huge spreading the message of Adidas’ innovation. It’s great to see a brand staying fresh and taking a risk of trying out new technology. Let the conversation begin.
What do you think of the shoes, another gimmick or actually a good use of AR in the marketplace? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Want to buy a pair check out these styles online:
Teaser trailer for the online experience:
Follow Adidas Originals on Twitter at @adi_originals
UPDATE:
Finally found a link to all the shoes on Eastbay.com You can see the line-up here
Also got my hands on a pair and have been trying to get them to work. Turns out that most of my problems were because of my work firewall and port blocking. Video of experience and tips/review to come shortly.
9:36 pm
Interesting use of AR. Kind of a gimmick though, cause your kinda stuck with some AR markers on your shoes for life now. What would be better is some markerless tracking on a pair of Nike shoes, using the swish to show you something.