Zugara

Last updated

Zugara
Industry Technology, Software, Ecommerce
FoundedLos Angeles, California, United States, (2001)
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California, United States
Area served
Worldwide
Products Webcam Social Shopper
Website www.zugara.com

Zugara is an American corporation headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States that develops and licenses augmented reality software and creates Natural User Interface experiences for brands.

Contents

Zugara was founded in March 2001 as an interactive marketing company with a focus on interactive strategy and web application development. From 2001 to 2008, the company created award-winning interactive campaigns for Fortune 500 brands including Sony PlayStation, Activision Blizzard, Reebok, Toyota, Lexus, Casio and the U.S. Air Force. [1] In early 2009, Zugara shifted focus to augmented reality software development and began development on augmented reality technologies and SDK's. Later that year, the company launched an early prototype of the Webcam Social Shopper augmented reality ecommerce product.

On September 25, 2012, Zugara was granted US Patent No. 8,275,590 for "Providing a simulation of wearing items such as garments and/or accessories". [2] The patent covers Zugara's augmented reality technology that powers Virtual dressing rooms. [3]

History

2001–2006: Interactive Strategy

Zugara's early efforts included award-winning interactive campaigns such as 'RBK Whodunit?' which featured integration of digital efforts with television, out of home and other advertising channels. [4] [5] Zugara cited the RBK Whodunit campaign's ability to drive 33% of site visitors to a retail location to interact with the product as the primary success of the campaign. [6] The following years saw Zugara continue to focus on interactive video initiatives with another award-winning campaign with GSD&M and the U.S. Air Force, called Do Something Amazing. The campaign and interactive component featured interactive video of the F-22 Raptor and other U.S. Air Force vehicles. The campaign was featured as a Pick of The Week by Ad Age's Creativity magazine. [7]

Zugara's other notable work included interactive marketing campaigns for Sony PlayStation properties including The Getaway, God of War, Gran Turismo 4 and the PSP.

2007–2008: User Interface and User Experience

In 2007, Zugara's focus turned to User Interface and User Experience design for clients including Toyota and Lexus. Initial notable work with User Interface design included concepting a new method for building your Lexus online. Zugara also applied its User Interface expertise for touchscreen kiosk initiatives for the U.S. Air Force.

2009–present: Augmented Reality Software Development

In June 2009, Zugara launched The Webcam Social Shopper augmented reality ecommerce prototype. Cited initially as an "Augmented Reality Dressing Room", The Webcam Social Shopper allows online shoppers to use a webcam to visualize virtual garments on themselves while shopping online. [8] The software also uses a motion capture system that allows users to use hand motions to navigate the software while standing away from their computer. Social media integration with Facebook and Twitter also allows users of the software to send pictures of themselves with the virtual garments for immediate feedback.

Though the Webcam Social Shopper has also been called virtual fitting room or virtual dressing room software, Zugara has referred to the software as an advanced product visualization tool for retailers. [9]

Later in 2009, Zugara was ranked by VentureBeat as one of the top augmented reality startups. [10]

Shortly thereafter, Zugara officially announced that it was focusing on augmented reality software development exclusively. [11] Zugara's technologies were soon being utilized by AT&T for a World Cup augmented reality Soccer engagement and by Orange Silicon Valley for an augmented reality telemedicine prototype. [12] [13]

Products

Webcam Social Shopper

The Webcam Social Shopper is Zugara's flagship product. The company developed the product when it noticed that online shopping conversion rates were stuck between 2% and 3%. Though online shopping was optimized for searching and browsing, it was not optimized for an engaging experience like in-store retail experiences at a mall. With the software turning an online shopper's webcam into a mirror, it was creating the offline 'at the rack' moment for shoppers at home. This helped shoppers make a more informed purchase decision by seeing an item on themselves through their webcam. [14] [15]

In November 2009, the Webcam Social Shopper was first deployed as Fashionista by online fashion site, Tobi.com. This initial version of the Webcam Social Shopper, used an augmented reality marker for placement of the virtual garment on the subject. [16]

In February 2011, a new version of the Webcam Social Shopper was debuted publicly for the first time at the DEMO conference in Palm Springs, California and won the DEMOgod award. [17] This latest version of the software removed the need for a marker and instead used facial tracking for placement of the virtual garment. Dubbed the "Plug and Play" version of the Webcam Social Shopper, this version of the software was designed for easier integration for retailers and ecommerce sites. [18]

In June 2011, UK Fashion Retailer, Banana Flame, was the first retailer to integrate the Plug and Play version of the virtual dressing room software. According to Matthew Szymczyk, CEO of Zugara, the new version of the Webcam Social Shopper can be integrated by a retailer in less than a day. Banana Flame deployed the software to offer a virtual dressing room for online shoppers to "try on" the clothes virtually on Banana Flame's website. [19]

On July 10, 2012, Zugara released an API for the Webcam Social Shopper for ecommerce platform integration. PrestaShop was the first ecommerce platform to offer the new Webcam Social Shopper module to its 127,000 retailers. In less than a week, over 140 retailers had downloaded the module. [20]

On October 3, 2013, Zugara released a Kinect enabled version of its Webcam Social Shopper software called, "WSS For Kiosks". [21] On December 10, 2013, PayPal debuted a mobile payments enhanced version of WSS For Kiosks at the LeWeb conference in Paris. [22]

Virtual Style Sense

On January 13, 2014, Zugara announced a new technology for in-store retailers called "Virtual Style Sense". In partnership with Samsung, this Virtual dressing room technology for in-store retailers debuted at the National Retail Conference's Big Show in New York. [23]

Critical acclaim

  • TIME magazine cited the Webcam Social Shopper as one of the few useful augmented reality applications that could be advantageous to both retailers and consumers. [24]
  • Fast Company called the Webcam Social Shopper 'the future'. [25]

Online Retail results

  • Internet Retailer published a report on Virtual Fitting Rooms and Fit Simulators on February 1, 2012. Danish social shopping comparison site LazyLazy.com deployed the Webcam Social Shopper in late 2011 and saw its conversion rate immediately jump with 17% of shoppers using the software converting 2 to 3 times more than those who did not use the software. [26]
  • In February 2012, the Mattel brand, Barbie, used a kiosk-enabled version of the Webcam Social Shopper for a New York Fashion Week event where attendees could try on virtual Barbie outfits. [27] Data released by Zugara, showed that the web version of the Barbie Dream Closet software showed increased usage over a 3-month period. From February 2012 to April 2012 use of the software increased from 20% to 33% and 50% of those users took an average of 6 photos each. [28]

Technologies

Zugara's augmented reality and computer vision technologies are used together for the company's Webcam Social Shopper product. However, Zugara has also used these individual technologies for brand applications and prototype development.

ZugMO Motion Capture

ZugMO motion capture technology allows online users to interact with their webcam based on gestural motions. ZugMO technology has been used by brands including Nestle, Toyota, Olay and Purina. [29] [30] [31] [32]

ZugMUG Facial Tracking

ZugMUG is a facial tracking technology that allows the webcam to track the users face through the webcam interface. For the Webcam Social Shopper product, this allows a virtual garment to track to an individual's face for better placement of the virtual item. The technology has also been used in a Virtual Exam application for Anthem that allowed virtual medical instruments to track to a person's eyes, ears and mouth. [30]

ZugSTAR Interactive Video Chat

ZugSTAR technology is short for Zugara Streaming Augmented Reality. This technology allows multiple participants to share an augmented reality experience in an interactive video chat interface. Zugara debuted a ZugSTAR prototype integrated with The Webcam Social Shopper at the IAB Poland conference in Warsaw and again at the NRF Big Show in New York City in 2010. [33]

Though many people have doubted the utility of initial augmented reality technology, ReadWriteWeb cited ZugSTAR as "one of the most clearly way more useful." [34]

Industry criticism

Zugara has been an outspoken critic of conceptual augmented reality, citing that augmented reality companies have not been focused on monetizing the technology. [35]

Press

Related Research Articles

E-commerce is the activity of electronically buying or selling products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. E-commerce is the largest sector of the electronics industry and is in turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry.

Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as writing, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditional mass media, such as printed material or audio recordings, which feature little to no interaction between users. Popular examples of multimedia include video podcasts, audio slideshows, and animated videos. Multimedia also contains the principles and application of effective interactive communication, such as the building blocks of software, hardware, and other technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augmented reality</span> View of the real world with computer-generated supplementary features

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated 3D content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be defined as a system that incorporates three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects. The overlaid sensory information can be constructive, or destructive. As such, it is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum.

Social software, also known as social apps or social platform includes communications and interactive tools that are often based on the Internet. Communication tools typically handle capturing, storing and presenting communication, usually written but increasingly including audio and video as well. Interactive tools handle mediated interactions between a pair or group of users. They focus on establishing and maintaining a connection among users, facilitating the mechanics of conversation and talk. Social software generally refers to software that makes collaborative behaviour, the organisation and moulding of communities, self-expression, social interaction and feedback possible for individuals. Another element of the existing definition of social software is that it allows for the structured mediation of opinion between people, in a centralized or self-regulating manner. The most improved area for social software is that Web 2.0 applications can all promote co-operation between people and the creation of online communities more than ever before. The opportunities offered by social software are instant connections and opportunities to learn. An additional defining feature of social software is that apart from interaction and collaboration, it aggregates the collective behaviour of its users, allowing not only crowds to learn from an individual but individuals to learn from the crowds as well. Hence, the interactions enabled by social software can be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer-mediated reality</span> Ability to manipulate ones perception of reality through the use of a computer

Computer-mediated reality refers to the ability to add to, subtract information from, or otherwise manipulate one's perception of reality through the use of a wearable computer or hand-held device such as a smartphone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed reality</span> Merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments

Mixed reality (MR) is a term used to describe the merging of a real-world environment and a computer-generated one. Physical and virtual objects may co-exist in mixed reality environments and interact in real time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interactive kiosk</span> Computer terminal that provides access to information, communication, commerce etc.

An interactive kiosk is a computer terminal featuring specialized hardware and software that provides access to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, or education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immersion (virtual reality)</span> Perception of being physically present in a non-physical world

In virtual reality (VR), immersion is the perception of being physically present in a non-physical world. The perception is created by surrounding the user of the VR system in images, sound or other stimuli that provide an engrossing total environment.

Augmented learning is an on-demand learning technique where the environment adapts to the learner. By providing remediation on-demand, learners can gain greater understanding of a topic while stimulating discovery and learning. Technologies incorporating rich media and interaction have demonstrated the educational potential that scholars, teachers and students are embracing. Instead of focusing on memorization, the learner experiences an adaptive learning experience based upon the current context. The augmented content can be dynamically tailored to the learner's natural environment by displaying text, images, video or even playing audio. This additional information is commonly shown in a pop-up window for computer-based environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual dressing room</span> Online equivalent of in-store changing room

A virtual dressing room is the online equivalent of an in-store changing room.

Miva, Inc. is a privately owned ecommerce shopping cart software and hosting company with headquarters in San Diego, California and a data center in Tampa, Florida. Miva Merchant's ecommerce software runs on its proprietary scripting language, MIVA Script.

Polyvore was a community-powered social commerce website headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company's virtual mood board function allowed community members to add products into a shared product index, and use them to create image collages called "Sets". They could browse other users' sets for inspiration, share sets with friends and interact with people through comments and likes. Due to the visual nature of the tool Polyvore was mostly used to build sets in the fields of home decoration, beauty and fashion. Online retailers, too, could upload their product images to Polyvore and link back to their product pages or use Polyvore to encourage users to showcase their products through such activities as board creation competitions.

The Webcam Social Shopper, often referred to as virtual dressing room software, debuted online in June 2009 and was created by Los Angeles–based software company, Zugara. Cited initially as an "augmented reality dressing room", The Webcam Social Shopper allows online shoppers to use a webcam to visualize virtual garments on themselves while shopping online. The software also uses a motion capture system that allows users to use hand motions to navigate the software while standing back from their computer. Social media integration with Facebook and Twitter also allows users of the software to send pictures of themselves with the virtual garments for immediate feedback.

Metaio GmbH was a privately held augmented reality (AR) company that was acquired by Apple Inc. in May of 2015. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, with subsidiaries in San Francisco, California, New York City, New York, and Dallas, Texas, Metaio provided a software development kit (SDK) for programming PC, web, mobile applications, and custom offline augmented reality applications. Additionally, Metaio was the creator of Junaio, a free mobile AR browser available for Android and iOS devices.

WebAR, previously known as the Augmented Web, is a web technology that allows for augmented reality functionality within a web browser. It is a combination of HTML, Web Audio, WebGL, and WebRTC. From 2020s more known as web-based Augmented Reality or WebAR, which is about the use of augmented reality elements in browsers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augment (app)</span>

Augment is an augmented reality SaaS platform that allows users to visualize their products in 3D in real environment and in real-time through tablets or smartphones. The software can be used for retail, e-commerce, architecture, and other purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital fashion</span>

Digital Fashion is a field of fashion design that relies on 3D software or artificial intelligence to produce hyper-realistic, data-intensive digital 3D garment simulations that are digital-only products or digital models for physical products. Digital garments can be worn and presented in virtual environments, social media, online gaming, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) platforms. The field contributes to the development of a more sustainable future for the fashion industry It has often been praised as an answer to ethical and creative concerns of traditional fashion by promoting innovation, reducing waste, and encouraging conscious consumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybertill</span> Software company in United Kingdom

Cybertill is a cloud-based retail software provider, which incorporates ecommerce, stock control, CRM, Merchandising and Warehousing modules. Cybertill’s headquarters are in Knowsley, near Liverpool, in the UK. The company is privately owned and funded by Merseyside Investment Fund (MSIF). and employs over 100 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual mirror</span>

A virtual mirror or smart mirror is a device that displays a user's own image on a screen as if that screen were a mirror. Some versions feature augmented reality additions to the video display, or use an entirely virtual graphical avatar of the user.

Commercial augmented reality (CAR) is the use of augmented reality (AR) to support B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) commercial activities, particularly for the retail industry. The use of CAR started in 2010 with virtual dressing rooms for E-commerce.

References

  1. 1 2 "Creativity 50" Archived July 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Creativity, March 11, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  2. ↑ "Augmented-reality ‘virtual dressing room’ patent issued", September 26, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012
  3. ↑ "Zugara’s virtual dressing rooms take the X factor out of online shopping" VentureBeat, September 25, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012
  4. ↑ "Reebok Asks 'Whodunit?'" Adweek July 22, 2003. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  5. ↑ "AD:TECH Opens in New York with Record Turnout" Business Library, November 4, 2003. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  6. ↑ "FWA Interviews: Matthew Szymczyk" The FWA, February 6, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  7. ↑ "Pick Of The Week: Air Force – Do Something Amazing" Archived July 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Creativity, 22 September 2006 14 July 2012
  8. ↑ "Zugara's Augmented Reality Dressing Is Great If You Don't Care How Your Clothes Fit" Techcrunch, June 23, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  9. ↑ "About The Webcam Social Shopper" Archived July 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Webcam Social Shopper About Page. Retrieved July 4, 2012
  10. ↑ "Which augmented reality startups will dominate? We rank them." VentureBeat, September 15, 2009, retrieve July 14, 2012
  11. ↑ "Zugara Revamps Model Will Focus Solely On AR" AgencySpy, January 3, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  12. ↑ "AT&T: AR Soccer Game Banner" [ permanent dead link ] Creativity-Online, June 17, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  13. ↑ "Augmented Reality Is Poised To Improve Telemedicine: Orange Silicon Valley Introduces Project DocPAL" Archived January 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine We Are Organized Chaos, September 29, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  14. ↑ "Demo: Zugara Engages Online Shoppers With Dress Up Visualization Venture Beat, February 28, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2012
  15. ↑ "Fashion Embraces Augmented Reality Technology" The New York Times , September 20, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2012
  16. ↑ "Tobi.com Fashionista: Online Shoppers Get Virtual Fitting Room" HuffPost , November 16, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  17. ↑ "GutCheck wins the $1M prize at DEMO" VentureBeat, March 1, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2012
  18. ↑ "Zugara Engages Online Shoppers With Dress Up Visualization" VentureBeat, February 28, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  19. ↑ "Retailer Lets Online Shoppers Virtually Try On Clothes Using Augmented Reality" Archived July 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine ReadWriteWeb, August 4, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  20. ↑ "The World’s 1st Augmented Reality Ecommerce Platform Module Launches On PrestaShop" Archived July 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine We Are Organized Chaos, July 10, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  21. ↑ "Webcam Social Shopper For Kiosks Now Available" Archived February 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , October 3, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2014
  22. ↑ "Zugara And PayPal Bring Mobile Payments To Virtual Dressing Room Experience" Archived February 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , January 23, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014
  23. ↑ "Samsung Showcases New Retail Experience At NRF 2014", January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014
  24. ↑ "Augmented Reality Lets You Try On Clothes from Online Shops" Time, August 5, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  25. ↑ "Forget Bloomies. Use Augmented Reality to Clothes-Shop from Your Computer" Archived July 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Fast Company, November 16, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  26. ↑ "Try Me" Internet Retailer, February 1, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012
  27. ↑ "The Barbie Closet: A Tweenage Dream" The Wall Street Journal , February 13, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012
  28. ↑ "Barbie Augmented Reality Data" Archived July 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine We Are Organized Chaos, May 29, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012
  29. ↑ "Zugara Clients" Archived July 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Zugara Clients, July 14, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  30. 1 2 "Augmented Reality Brand Engagements Continue To Yield Impressive Metrics" Archived June 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine We Are Organized Chaos, February 27, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  31. ↑ "AR Used To Tech Proper Breast Cancer Exam Technique" Archived December 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine We Are Organized Chaos, November 14, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  32. ↑ "Zugara’s Newest Online Augmented Reality Game For Nestle" Archived November 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine We Are Organized Chaos, October 28, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  33. ↑ "Zugara’s ZugSTAR: Video Conferencing + Augmented Reality = A Shared AR Experience" Archived October 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine We Are Organized Chaos, November 4, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  34. ↑ "Augmented Reality Video Conference" Archived July 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine ReadWriteWeb, February 4, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012
  35. ↑ "The Augmented Reality Industry's Jan Brady Complex" Archived June 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine ReadWriteWeb, May 7, 2010. Retrieved July 14, 2012
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