Rock Paper Reality, Google and Adobe Aero Partner to Make Location-Based AR Accessible to Any Business

Rock Paper Reality (RPR), immersive content and design experts, today announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Google’s Geospatial Creator and Adobe Aero to bring a location-based augmented reality experience to Paper Tree origami store in Japantown San Francisco, transforming the neighbourhood with custom 3D digital origami artwork, accessible via a simple QR code.

The partnership opens up a huge commercial opportunity for any location or business by making cross-platform digital 3D experiences more accessible to developers, brands and customers alike. Google’s Geospatial Creator, powered by ARCore and Photorealistic 3D Tiles from Google Maps Platform, negates the need for developers to physically visit a location to pre-scan the space in order to overlay digital content. It is available in Adobe Aero and compatible with iOS and Android, so developers can now build high-quality, world-anchored and geometrically accurate experiences that open up creative opportunities for brands across the globe.

“The potential for any brand to tell stories beyond their traditional storefront or page, elevating how their audiences discover and engage with their products in the digital realm is huge. With immersive spaces and headset use on the rise, it has never been more vital to have an omnichannel 3D strategy in place, particularly powerful with the younger generation where 3D worlds are the norm,” said Patrick Johnson, CEO and founder, Rock Paper Reality. 

“Teaming up with our immersive technology partner, Rock Paper Reality, we’ve unveiled a transformative location-based experience in San Francisco’s Japantown celebrating the community of retailers that have been there for generations,” said James Zachary, XR creative lead, 3Di, Adobe. “Geolocated experiences provide new opportunities for brands and retailers to meet customers where they are, introducing them to products and services in ways that drive foot traffic, repeat visitation and leave an indelible mark of awe. With Adobe Aero, creating and delivering geospatial augmented reality has never been easier. It’s as simple as scanning a QR code and launching into an extraordinary experience without the fuss of downloading and installing an app. Bringing geospatial augmented reality to your fingertips like never before.”

Geospatial Creator in Adobe Aero was launched in May this year, drawing on Google’s more than 15 years of understanding of the world through Google Maps and Street View data. The Scene Semantics API, Photorealistic 3D Tiles, and Rooftop anchors enable developers to identify and understand the unique components within a scene and anchor digital content in real time and space. 

"Google's Geospatial Creator allows brands and creators to easily design location-based augmented experiences," said Stevan Silva, senior product manager, Google AR. "It's incredible to see how Paper Tree was able to transform their location with AR, opening up new possibilities for their business to connect with people of all ages, share their crafts and express their creativity."

“Leveraging Adobe’s powerful tools has been a game changer, elevating our workflow to new heights of speed and efficiency. The Substance 3D suite in particular has become an indispensable part of our toolkit, allowing us to texture with precision using Painter, swiftly sample textures with Sampler, and seamlessly pre-visualize our projects with Stager,” said Preston Platt, CTO & Founder, Rock Paper Reality.

“The experience has given an unprecedented way to view Origami. It gets the viewer up close, where they can see incredible detail. The 3D animation of the Peace Sphere literally brings the Origami to life, enhancing its design,” said Linda Mihara, manager/part owner, Paper Tree. “The process was equally amazing - The Rock Paper Reality team came to the store to photograph all of the origami paper, and that was all they needed to convey the texture, color, and reality of the figures in 3D. Young, tech-savvy audiences are super familiar with using QR codes, so it’s very easy for them to click and start seeing origami in a fun, interactive way.”

“The Adobe Aero 3D Paper Tree Experience is an innovative and exciting attraction not only for Paper Tree but Japantown as well. It’s going to put us on the map and hopefully bring more visitors to this cultural destination which will help the surrounding small business continue to thrive,” said Grace Horikiri, executive director, Japantown Community Benefit District.