12 AR Facts For Christmas 2016

London Sport 2.0: Encouraging London to become more active

London Sport 2.0 is on a mission to make London a happier, healthier and stronger place through Sport. 

This was definitely a passion project for us, with our own former Pro/Semi-Pro footballers in Si Brown, Jamie Clarke & Alan Clayton, we were excited to join two of our life passions, technology and sport, together.

London Sport 2.0 are involved in numerous projects, activities and events to bring awareness to Londoners, in hope of encouraging 1,000,000 Londoners to be more active by 2020. It seems their first year is proving promising and they are definitely on track to achieving this result.

                                          

At skignz we love a new innovative project, that not only includes sports and technology, but pushes boundaries and encourages a change in people and society. 

So we were more than thrilled to work with Sport tech 2.0 in London on 15th November 2017. The digital revolution continues, at the IMAX in London, what a modern / fitting venue.

Si Brown, skignz Founder & CEO, was a guest speaker, amongst great speakers such as London & Partners, the Open Data Institute and Loughborough University. 

It was also exciting times for skignz as we were included in the Hub, an area which is designated to tech companies that are making waves in the sector and disrupting the norm. So this was an amazing opportunity for us to be part of something encouragingly progressive.

What a fabulous day with some terrific speakers and cracking companies. 

Take a look at the highlights of the day... https://londonsport.org/events/sport-20/highlights-sport-20-digital-revolution-continues/

You can see the video here - LINK TO VIDEO HERE

Fuse Annual Leadership Conference - Bringing AR to life with the views of London

We had a very exciting time at Fuse 2016 on 20th October - bringing skignz to life through the wonderful view of London.

Fuse is a leadership conference that began last year. Following the success from the last event, they decided to host their annual conference again. This was an invitation-only event, so imagine our excitement when La Fosse, wanted us to be involved. 

La Fosse are a specialist recruitment company, based in London, who annually have an event / networking / presentation / guest speakers for all of their clients / prospected clients. So it was an honour to work with La Fosse to bring skignz to Fuse 2016, enabling staff and guests to use our interactive digital technology.

skignz fitted perfectly with their mission, which focused on technology leaders and innovative business. This year's event centred around the challenges that digital businesses encounter. The aim of the event was to bring together executives from both international and national blue chip and fast-growing startups to discuss business evolution from the core. 

At skignz, we applaud all 'go-getters' who see potential in our developing digital world, those who won't stop and believe their business is a bigger part of the digital age. So we loved listening to stories from other tech companies who, too, would continue to keep up with our ever-changing digital world.

It was great to incorporate skignz into this powerful event, as we created accounts for all La Fosse staff. All guests were asked to download skignz so they could then find a member of the La Fosse staff, or even find out a little more about them. 

A fantastic personal touch for any event hosts.



This prestige event was held at the top of the Tate Modern Gallery; windows surrounded the top floor from 3 sides, allowing for the most magnificent view. This was a great opportunity for us, as we were able to place AR signs/logos of all the prominent locations in London, such as The Tower of London. 

This meant that not only could guests view the signs and logos of various London icons through their mobile and understand where the famous icon was in relation to the gallery, but skignz allowed them to click on the sign/logo and find out interesting facts about that particular landmark.

This was great fun for us, as it's what we do best; an interactive experience that benefits our users.

Using AR at the Conservative Party Conference

This week was the first Conservative Party Conference since 'Brexit' and although here at skignz we are non political, this conference provided the City of Birmingham with a unique opportunity to do something a little bit different.

Birmingham, the second city as it's labelled, is fast becoming an emerging centre of excellence for digital technologies. 

There are a number of clusters growing across the city and an aim by all the key stakeholders to provide a 'joined up approach'.

Over the past few months skignz has met with many of these stakeholders, such as the key Universities, Airport, Chamber of Commerce, Hospital, Business Birmingham and others with the ultimate ambition of making Birmingham the first 'skignz city' in the UK if not the world (currently being challenged by Atlanta in the US).

What is a skignz city?

The definition of a skignz city is very loose, however it builds on the idea of a SMART city, but using the skignz platform and digital eco sphere to provide services, information and experiences across the city. 

This ranges from next generation Wayfinding, asset tracking, leisure activities and raising cultural awareness. SMART cities focus not on the infrastructure such as driverless cars, IOT, etc. 

A skignz city links all of these other initiatives together through a common platform using the skignz Geo Location based Augmented Reality Platform.

How does this apply to the Conservative Party Conference?

It was felt that in order for all of the stakeholders to fully understand and experience skignz an event and/or location was required to demonstrate skignz.

The CPC was chosen and over the past few weeks the skignz team has been in Birmingham installing the infrastructure required, for not only all those attending the conference, but all those in Birmingham and especially those interested in using skignz to further their individual/organisations agendas with regards to digital technology.

During the conference people will be able to access the skignz environment for either navigation from Birmingham New Street Station, to finding the ICC more easily, through to providing interesting facts and information in and around the ICC. 

Birmingham City University and the Greater Birmingham Chamber are the key supporters, in being the very first Party Conference to use Augmented Reality, especially as this is not gimmicky or gamified, it's useful, relevant and interesting.

The future of Augmented Reality is around making the technology useful and complementary to other technologies, both key ingredients in building SMART cities. 

Birmingham has over the last few days become the first city… a huge change from its usual status! 

Well done Birmingham for having the faith and courage to push the boundaries of what is possible, by enhancing a political conference - some would say that's almost impossible! 

The BIG question is? 

Has the second city just become the UK's first city with regards to Augmented Reality?

For more information on the Conservative Party Conference please take look at their website: https://conservativepartyconference.com/index

For more information on the Conservative Party please take look at their website: https://www.conservatives.com

For more information on Birmingham City University please take look at their website: http://www.bcu.ac.uk

For more information on the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce please take look at their website: http://www.greaterbirminghamchambers.com

If you want to find out more about skignz, then please visit our new recently launched website (www.skignz.com) as well as the usual social media channels