Australian startup Third Aurora announces Augmented Reality concept for interactive craft beer packaging with ‘Beerscans’

In Augmented Reality News 

June 10, 2021 – Third Aurora, a provider of augmented reality (AR) solutions, has today announced the release of its ‘Beerscans’ concept, an augmented reality concept for craft beer that will bring interactive, storytelling packaging to the industry.

The Australian tech startup launched a similar concept for the wine industry in 2020. Third Aurora intends to launch its Beerscans craft beer version in September 2021, and the company is encouraging craft brewers to join the exclusive launch, which is capped at just 50 brands.

“Augmented Reality is a fantastic way for brewers to connect with customers. It’s absolutely stunning to see first-hand,” said co-founder, Dave Chaffey. “The feedback we’re hearing is that it really adds to the experience – particularly for under-40s, who have grown up with smartphone technology.”

Beerscans offers brands an opportunity to tell their story and connect with customers by allowing smartphone users to scan beer packaging, unlocking content from the brewer that comes to life in AR. Chaffey continued: “They [users] love the behind-the-scenes concept, discovering the brewer’s backstory, and they’ve given strong support to the idea of interacting directly from the label.”

According to Third Aurora, the experience is socially oriented and interactive, enabling beer lovers to respond to content, opening up commercial opportunities such as loyalty club sign ups and marketing promotions. 

“Interactivity is important. With the concept doing such a great job of capturing attention, it made sense to offer a way for brands to lead customers to the next part of the journey, to enhance the experience,” said Chaffey.

Third Aurora noted that the driver of the technology is accessibility for brewers, and the company has worked to remove all of the barriers to entry that might prevent brewers from coming on board. The technology apparently works with existing packaging (no special printing or new packaging required) and there are no QR codes needed. 

That being said, from a customer point of view, the experience will require users to download an app, through which they scan beer cans in order to access the experience, adding a slight point of friction to end users. Still, the team behind Beerscans expects a “swift adoption”.

The Beerscans platform, which is powered by PTC’s Vuforia Engine, is currently accepting applications for the early release. Craft brewers can join by visiting the Beerscans website.

Video credit: Beerscans / Vimeo

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.