AUSTIN, Texas — Chevrolet is looking to mine social media techniques for three important products — the Camaro, Cruze and Volt — and is launching three pilot apps at the 2010 South by Southwest conference on Friday. The technologies have intriguing tags: location-based social networking, quick response codes, and "augmented reality."
For the location-based networking application, Chevrolet worked with Gowalla of Austin, developer of a "check in" feature for smart phones that lets users tell their friends and followers where they are at a given moment. Chevrolet is sending out messages and special offers to the phones of South by Southwest visitors, with such enticements as free rides in Chevrolet products.
The quick response code feature invites people to photograph displayed codes with their camera phones, which will launch dedicated microsites to learn more about Chevrolet products. The point of the quick response code technology, says GM's Director of Global Communications and Technology Christopher Barger, is to let users have instant access to information. Someday soon, he says, a user might be able to "download the price and options for a vehicle on a dealer lot right to your cell phone."
Perhaps the coolest application is the "augmented reality" feature. Chevrolet has a mobile iReveal application in Beta form that, when downloaded, unlocks 3D models of vehicles and even inserts a virtual image of the car over the setting the user is looking at through his or her smart phone's camera lens. Augmented reality, says Barger, has the potential to let a user "virtually preview different colors of the Camaro in your own driveway."
The applications are part of a larger presence by Chevrolet at the South by Southwest conference, including a road rally that sent eight teams from as far away as both coasts to Austin, completing missions chosen by Twitter followers. There's also a Volt Recharge Lounge with 100 electrical ports — where conference attendees can ogle a 2011 Volt and recharge their electronic gadgets at the same time.
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