Rogers, Canada’s largest provider of TV, Internet and wireless services, has teamed up with Canadian marketing agency Newad and Parisian street artist KASHINK to create a truly unique interactive experience to promote the Rogers Cup tennis tournament – all with scannable Layar content.

KASHINK is a unique French street artist who paints large, four-eyed creatures with bright colors and thick lines. As her website describes her work, “she only paints men, preferably fat and hairy, looking like badass yet sensitive gangsters, alien-looking ogres, or shamans from ancient tribes. Some of them are gay, some of them are killers, some others are both.”

For the campaign, named “A Creative Exchange” KASHINK was commissioned to paint one of her signature creations on the side of a building on the streets of Montreal, but with a tennis and mobile phone twist.

“Our goal is to have a new interpretation of tennis, and make it more accessible by bringing it closer to Montrealers,” said Lizianne Fortier, Sponsorships and Events Manager at Rogers. “It was important for us to let the artist express herself and interpret the sport of tennis in her own way, without limitations.”

The creature wears a headband and holds a mobile phone to its ear in one hand and a tennis ball between its giant fingers in the other, all while saying “FOUND IT!” over the phone.

Near the ground of the four story artwork is a call-to-action urging those walking by on the sidewalk to download the Layar App and scan the painting to see more. Scanning the artwork reveals a timelapse video of KASHINK working on the giant artwork from start to finish over the course of a few days.

“As the character I created has a very retro feel, applying technology to the mural and merging the two worlds is quite interesting artistically,” said KASHINK.

Click on the image at the top and scan it with the Layar App to watch the time-lapse video of KASHINK at work!

The Museo de la Evolución Humana (Museum of Human Evolution) in Burgos, Spain, has used Layar to create interactive postcards to promote a new temporary exhibit.

The exhibit, “Cambio de Imagen: Una nueva visión de los Neandertales” (Change of Image: A new vision of the Neanderthals) is a temporary showcase that features a new look at Neanderthals, including bones and artist illustrations.

“We want to do more things with these kind of technologies,” said Management and Communication technician Gonzalo de Santiago Salinas. “We think it is a good way to divulge the content of our museum, in our case, Human Evolution. We also want to be a modern museum and want to apply the latest technologies.”

The museum has produced an interactive postcard that it will hand out to visitors, as well as scientists at conferences and press members at events. By scanning the postcard, visitors can see a video in which Juan Luis Arsuaga, scientific director of the museum, explains the content of the exhibition. They can also access the museum’s program and social networks, or contact the booking center.

The interactive postcard has also been promoted on the museum’s social media pages.

The new exhibit has garnered significant press attention in Spain, thanks in no small part to the museum’s use of Augmented Reality to attract visitors. Give it a try yourself by clicking and scanning the image above!

American television station SundanceTV (part of the AMC Network) is using Layar and Augmented Reality to help better engage with fans of its new show “The Honorable Woman.” 

The spy thriller miniseries stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as an Anglo-Israeli businesswoman, and fans can use the Layar App to discover exclusive clues to the show’s mysterious plot. SundanceTV is using the show’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts to share images with the show’s followers that contain hidden information that can be accessed by scanning with Layar.

Monica Bloom, SVP Marketing, SundanceTV, stated, “‘The Honorable Woman’ is an intricate thriller that engages viewers with thought-provoking concepts, many of them centered on secrets and lies. We wanted to translate these themes into a marketing campaign that would rouse and delight our audience while driving engagement and conversation around this compelling series.”

Check out some of the example tweets below and scan with the Layar App to discover more about “The Honorable Woman.” Visit the SundanceTV website to view more scannable images.

In 2013, a group of developers at Dutch Rose Media created the “Smilez” app with the Layar SDK to allow anyone to create personalized Augmented Reality greeting cards.

The app is pretty simple. Using their phone, users can record a video message, pick a card design and add text. Then, Smilez sends a physical greeting card to the recipient who can scan the card with the Smilez app to watch the video message come to life.

After receiving attention both from the press and from large brands including IBM and Deloitte, this small Dutch company wants to go international. They’ve launched a Kickstarter project to help fund the production of an international version of the app with more features, as well as the other elements of the business including global printing and shipping.

“People can back us on Kickstarter with different amounts. In exchange we offer some cool rewards as a thank you,” says Dutch Rose Media founder Natasja Paulssen. “These rewards can range from Smilez cards and Smilez campaigns to Augmented Reality posters.”

The company is hoping to raise €25,000 by August 27th, so have a look at their Kickstarter page if you’re interested in donating!