See it 3D

Guinness World Records AR app

For the launch of their best-selling record-breaking book, Guinness World Records wanted to bring their amazing content to life by creating an Augmented Reality app.

My role in this project was to lead the product design from content to launch.

Guinness World Records (GWR) is an extraordinary brand that rewards the greatest achievements in the world.

From 2013, I was lucky to be part of an amazing project in which I supported the creation of the FREE GWR 2015 Augmented Reality app. GWR main goal was to connect with their fans online and be the first in the market to offer an Augmented Reality experience to their readers.

For these projects, I was responsible of the design of the app and launch to market. I coordinated the AR developer partner and in-house stakeholders including editorial, design, marketing, and IT teams.

From physical to digital

The 2010s marked a time where digital entertainment was growing rapidly and where we saw an increase in device owners in the UK households and emergence of new technologies, augmented reality. With the rise of children online users, particularly in gaming, GWR saw an opportunity to surf on the trend and wanted to offer their readers a product that no other publishers were offering back then.

GWR had two distinct audiences: book readers and online users. As they started to grow their online presence it was the brand's aim to bring the two audiences together. There, came the idea of developing an Augmented Reality app.

The AR app had to work with the Guinness World Records book. A few pages throughout the book were marked with a "Seeit3D" logo indicating the readers that this particular page had a 3D feature in the app.

Content development

Before mapping out the app architecture and the key functions, we first identified the type of content fans were particularly interested in and would most likely interact with. We gathered and analysed consumer insights, website and social media analytics including video views before starting to ideate them.

Fans want to see the most unique and jaw-dropping records.

We narrowed down GWR content list to a few categories and selected records that were widely popular.

Iconic record holders such the tallest man and animals were content with the highest click through and social interactions. Fans were also interested in knowing how to break a world record.

We decided to bring six interactive and "fun-ducative" features. During the whole process I was responsible for coordinating every step of the development stages between the developer and the teams and ensured that we were working well towards deadline whilst delivering the most qualitative assets to the in-house teams and the best experience to the GWR users.

Photo opportunity

We developed 3D and life-size features of the current tallest man and the tallest man ever. Once the page activated with the app, users could stand next to them and snap a photo next to their favourite record holders.

Designed from high- res photos
Developed with accurate measures
Photo snap and sharing enabled

3D and VFX animation

We wanted to offer a bit of fun and entertainment for children to play with their friend. This particular feature was inspired by the Largest Dino Stomp.

Users would film their friend with the device camera and record them being crushed by the Dino stomp. You could also hear the sound of the Dino whilst doing so.

VR mode

We gave users the opportunity to explore the solar system with a VR interactive feature. This particular feature aimed to offer an educative angle to the world that surrounds us in an interactive and entertaining way.

Users were brought into space as soon as they activated the QR code on the book spread. They were able to slide through each planet and tap on them to learn about their characteristics.

in-App game

We develop an in-app game based on the Most dangerous cheese to human, the "Casu Marzu".

To break the record, users were asked to tap the most maggots in 30 seconds as they appear in the screen. We integrated a social element with an online leaderboard so challengers could see were they rank against each other.

Promo video

Guinness World Records 2015 "SeeIt3D" was first published as a beta version so we could keep testing bugs and usability before officially going live as soon as the book launched. This is the video promo I created with the help of Adam Moore, former GWR videographer.

Storyboard: me Video: Adam Moore.

Results

As a result, the GWR AR app turned out to be a great success. The app was dowloaded over half a million times worldwide and the features greatly appreciated by fans. The tallest man was by far the most popular.

From a business point of view, bringing this new technology helped increase considerably their book sale, in the UK and in the world.

Note that the app is not available to download anymore as the GWR 2015 book is now dated and out of sale.

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