Clicky
It's as if it were pulled from the future -- a poster of a lively soccer player juggling a ball as you walk past.
But, it's not simply a concept. An Ottawa company has already figured out how to bring a paper-thin piece of plastic to life, and now is ready to unleash its moving ads on the world.
"When you look at the technology behind this, the only way to describe it is magic," said Helmut Kungl, president of XYZ RGB Inc. "It's like that newspaper in Harry Potter, the one that keeps looping the picture over and over."
Using cutting-edge technologies, XYZ RGB can turn an eight-second video into a full-colour hologram and place it in a plastic film that can be posted in malls, pasted to billboards or even wrapped around a can of soup.
The energy needed to make it work? Only a source of light.
The film industry is the first target for what XYZ RGB bills as the next-generation movie poster. The company can place a short clip right in the poster, giving people a chance to view a scene without going into the theatre.
The technology is turning heads around the world. When he heard about it, Titanic director James Cameron couldn't believe the 3-D posters were possible.
"He said to me, 'if you have discovered imbedded video in plastic, you have discovered the holy grail of advertising,' " said Jan-Erik Nyhuus, vice-president of business development for XYZ RGB Inc.
Mr. Nyhuus flew to Hollywood with a custom-made Terminator 2 movie poster for Mr. Cameron. According to Mr. Nyhuus, Mr. Cameron now is considering using the posters for a string of 3-D movies he is working on.
"What better way to promote a 3-D film then with a 3-D movie poster?" said Mr. Kungl.
But movie posters are just one application. George Mitrovich, president of Proforma Consulting Ltd., said the technology, as described, could have enormous potential.
"Malls, shopping centres, grocery stores, there are thousands upon thousands of people going through those places every day," he said. "The traditional advertisement is getting stale ... this could be huge."
Mr. Mitrovich's company performs research on advertising technologies for such big companies as 3M Canada Co. and Pepsi-Cola Canada Ltd. He said uses for the technology could be endless. Companies could even use the technology to place 3-D advertisements on the packaging of their products.
"You could put it on a wall, or a floor or a display," he said. "It goes on and on."
But, Mr. Mitrovich said by targeting the movie industry, XYZ RGB is picking a small market. He believes the company should jump right into retail advertising.
Mr. Kungl agreed that the potential for his company's product is huge. At this stage, however, the tiny 18-person Ottawa firm can't produce the number of posters that a company such as Coca-Cola Co. Ltd. may need.
"If someone came to us tomorrow and said we need 5,000 large-format posters, we couldn't handle that," said Mr. Kungl, adding the company is working on new technologies that will help it to increase production over the next six months. It currently takes several hours to print out a single one-by-1.2-metre image.
It's as if it were pulled from the future -- a poster of a lively soccer player juggling a ball as you walk past.
But, it's not simply a concept. An Ottawa company has already figured out how to bring a paper-thin piece of plastic to life, and now is ready to unleash its moving ads on the world.
"When you look at the technology behind this, the only way to describe it is magic," said Helmut Kungl, president of XYZ RGB Inc. "It's like that newspaper in Harry Potter, the one that keeps looping the picture over and over."
Using cutting-edge technologies, XYZ RGB can turn an eight-second video into a full-colour hologram and place it in a plastic film that can be posted in malls, pasted to billboards or even wrapped around a can of soup.
The energy needed to make it work? Only a source of light.
The film industry is the first target for what XYZ RGB bills as the next-generation movie poster. The company can place a short clip right in the poster, giving people a chance to view a scene without going into the theatre.
The technology is turning heads around the world. When he heard about it, Titanic director James Cameron couldn't believe the 3-D posters were possible.
"He said to me, 'if you have discovered imbedded video in plastic, you have discovered the holy grail of advertising,' " said Jan-Erik Nyhuus, vice-president of business development for XYZ RGB Inc.
Mr. Nyhuus flew to Hollywood with a custom-made Terminator 2 movie poster for Mr. Cameron. According to Mr. Nyhuus, Mr. Cameron now is considering using the posters for a string of 3-D movies he is working on.
"What better way to promote a 3-D film then with a 3-D movie poster?" said Mr. Kungl.
But movie posters are just one application. George Mitrovich, president of Proforma Consulting Ltd., said the technology, as described, could have enormous potential.
"Malls, shopping centres, grocery stores, there are thousands upon thousands of people going through those places every day," he said. "The traditional advertisement is getting stale ... this could be huge."
Mr. Mitrovich's company performs research on advertising technologies for such big companies as 3M Canada Co. and Pepsi-Cola Canada Ltd. He said uses for the technology could be endless. Companies could even use the technology to place 3-D advertisements on the packaging of their products.
"You could put it on a wall, or a floor or a display," he said. "It goes on and on."
But, Mr. Mitrovich said by targeting the movie industry, XYZ RGB is picking a small market. He believes the company should jump right into retail advertising.
Mr. Kungl agreed that the potential for his company's product is huge. At this stage, however, the tiny 18-person Ottawa firm can't produce the number of posters that a company such as Coca-Cola Co. Ltd. may need.
"If someone came to us tomorrow and said we need 5,000 large-format posters, we couldn't handle that," said Mr. Kungl, adding the company is working on new technologies that will help it to increase production over the next six months. It currently takes several hours to print out a single one-by-1.2-metre image.