Recently, Belgian creative agency Think Yellow teamed up with Layar partner agency Limebizz to create a truly engaging augmented reality experience for a special mystery client that drew an incredible amount of attention in Antwerp’s central train station.

The project, called “What’s In the Container,” centered around a mysterious bright orange cargo container assembled in the station’s main atrium. Around it, instructions were placed to attract passers by to scan the box with Layar for a hint about the container’s contents. If, on the day the container is to be opened, they could “crack the code,” they could win whatever was inside the box.

With tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people passing through the station, the project garnered quite a bit of attention. Social media was a powerful driver of this, as people were encouraged to use YouTube and Facebook to participate in the campaign.

They could step into the “Babble Box” and leave a video comment about what they thought was inside. Over 1,000 videos were recorded and automatically uploaded to YouTube, as people of all ages left their guesses about the contents. As more people “Liked” the container on Facebook, more hints were revealed about what was inside, encouraging sharing and spreading the message.

Scanning the side of the container with Layar displayed an AR video that let users “look inside” the container to see even more hints. The combination of social media and augmented reality from Layar made for a very engaging and attractive experience for visitors to the station.

Just recently, the code was cracked and the mystery was solved. The mystery client was Belgian cava maker Grand Baron and the container was packed with the bubbly stuff! Check out the video below to see the opening, which featured musicians and dancers choreographed in a beautiful ceremony.

This campaign is a perfect example of the extensibility of Layar’s interactive print! It’s great not just for individual experiences on the pages of a magazine, but – as we’ve seen with the great success of projects from CBS Outdoor – it also works great with large-form advertising in public, like billboards, posters or big bright orange containers full of champagne.

“The Layar App gave our static container a dynamic feature that has caught the imagination of many visitors,” said Think Yellow. “It really came to life and distinguished our project from many other projects in Antwerp Central Station.”

Leading paper and packaging industry association TAPPI has joined a growing list of publishers, printers and industry associations signing on with Layar for augmented reality and interactive print solutions. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company, an industry staple for nearly a century, announced the partnership at the 2013 Paper Con Conference earlier this week.

“TAPPI is excited about our partnership with Layar and the opportunity it provides our members and the industry to enhance print products with digital content,” notes Larry N. Montague, TAPPI president and CEO. “Layar allows anyone to easily and quickly add digital content to print and tap into the explosion in online information consumption. It allows users to communicate in new and interactive ways and makes print products more effective and engaging.”

TAPPI promoted this new partnership at Paper Con with posters, banners and a full page ad (see below) in the event’s program. This partnership is another in a trend of industry leaders backing Layar as the interactive print provider of choice. It reaffirms the print industry’s belief in the future of interactive print, and in Layar as the leading provider for all augmented reality needs.

TAPPI’s commitment to Layar is also a sign of growing adoption of Layar in the United States. American publishers Fry Communications and publications like Publishing Executive and Publishers Weekly have already begun using Layar’s interactive print. TAPPI adds to this momentum in the U.S. where use the Layar App tops 7 million downloads.

Are you ready to join the industry leaders and begin taking advantage of what interactive print can add to your business? Get started today!

Today, Layar has surpassed a huge milestone. The Layar App, the mobile application for iOS and Android which has served as the backbone for the growth of Layar as a whole, has now been downloaded more than 30 million times!

This is a huge moment for Layar and for interactive print. The growth of the Layar Creator and interactive print is evident in the continued download growth of the Layar App across the world. Now the interactive print content created by over 40,000 publishers is easily viewable on an app with over 30 million downloads.

With Layar on 30 million devices and smartphone sales expected to hit 1 billion in 2013 alone, it is clear from these amazing numbers that the world is ready for augmented reality. As hardware technology and internet connectivity progresses, users are hungry for more information and are looking for ways to fulfill this need.

The world is ready with 1 billion smartphones in 2013 and Layar is ready with 40,000 publishers and 30 million downloads. These incredible milestones underscores the fact that interactive print is here and it’s taking the print world by storm.

Are you ready to use Layar to integrate your print and digital channels, add additional revenue to your ad sales and grow consumer engagement? Get started today!

To mark this occasion of 30 million downloads, we’ve put together a report that illustrates some of the key facts and figures and provides a current snapshot of Layar. In it you will find…

• Global download stats
• Real results from our customers
• Interactive print usage stats
• Numbers regarding our robust workload
• And more!

Click here to download our Layar 30M Report!

Thanks to everyone who followed along and to each one of our 30 million downloaders – it’s you who have made Layar into what it is today. Here’s to the next 30 million!