Augmented Reality Brings New Yorker Cover to Life

Augmented Reality is a technology, which builds a bridge between analog and digital worlds. So it is no surprise that The New Yorker jumped on this trend with its yearly Innovators Issue in May 2016 with an augmented reality cover. The US magazine was first published in 1925 and is famous for its exceptional, hand-drawn covers.

It was Christoph Niemann who created the design for the interactive cover coming to life via tablet or smartphone. When the readers scan his picture with the camera of their mobile device, they are able to experience digital extra content. They just have to install the app Uncovr, which was made specifically for this purpose.

Augmented Reality is Like “Stepping Through a Mirror”

In order to demonstrate the borders between the real and the fictional world the artist originally planned to start the animation with an elevator door. “But then I realized that the subway is even better, because it really does take you to a different world. The closing doors are a flat surface that separates two worlds, and so are the covers of a magazine—separating before you read it and after you read it, what you know and don’t know, how your views change,” says Niemann.

So, he decided to draw a woman boarding the subway on the front and the back cover of The New Yorker. “If you create a world on paper, you create a window. Usually, you just break the surface with your mind, but you always have the feeling of: What if you could step into that world or if something could come out of it?” This is what Niemann had in mind while designing the cover. And indeed: Looking at this illustration on their tablets or smartphones the readers enter a three-dimensional animation of New York’s cityscrape. If you want to know more about the story behind his work, click here, or watch this video:

What do you think: Which other sectors could use Augmented Reality to provide their target groups a real life experience? Leave us your opinion in a comment below.