BLITZ Sends John Mayer into Augmented Reality

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BLITZ, a leading integrated marketing agency, today announced the release of a new augmented reality (AR) music video for John Mayer’s single, “Heartbreak Warfare,” from his forthcoming album, “Battle Studies.” The video, available now on www.JohnMayer.com, lets fans enjoy a whole new experience by interacting with the settings around Mayer while he performs the song, delivered via the Adobe® Flash® Player software, which is already installed on 99% of Internet-enabled desktops. To launch the AR music video, fans hold a printable marker, or “glyph,” in front of their webcam and then get to watch the dynamic experience unfold on-screen. As Mayer starts to sing, his fans can then play with the animated living room scene by moving their glyph around – spinning, rotating and even flipping John’s virtual world upside down.

“It’s been great to work with such a talented group of people as the BLITZ team,” said Mayer. “I’ve never seen a design crew with such control of a creative vision. They knew what they wanted, what it would take to make it happen, and brought the project to fruition with zero downtime.”

Long renowned for pushing the boundaries of music and entertainment, the seven-time Grammy award winner sought to create a way to connect with fans that extended beyond just listening to a new track or watching a music video. BLITZ was brought on to create a unique application that gives users a sense of personal control while experiencing the robust video, rather than just watching it. Utilizing rich visual imagery, the 3D video world leverages BLITZ’s unique storytelling experience and provides an immersive illustration of the emotional changes sung by Mayer.

“Not only was this project exciting because of its complexity and visual appeal, but it was also a joy to work with an artist like John, who is willing to push the technology envelope and find new ways to interact with fans,” said Ken Martin, Chief Creative Officer, BLITZ. “This dynamic experience provides his fans the ability to personally ‘touch’ a music video.”

The sleek application, built using Adobe® Flash® CS4 Professional software and the FLARToolKit, was introduced by Adobe CTO, Kevin Lynch, during his Keynote presentation at the Adobe MAX developer’s conference in Los Angeles. Lynch concluded his address by describing the video capabilities and new advancements in the latest Flash release, and was soon joined onstage by John Mayer, to give the audience a sneak peak of the AR video.

About BLITZ

BLITZ is a leading integrated marketing agency that brings brands to life by developing immersive, entertaining and imaginative experiences. BLITZ constantly invents new ways to excite, inform and entertain customers, making them want to learn more, go deeper, “play” longer and participate in an active brand conversation. BLITZ has developed revolutionary consumer experiences and campaigns for some of the world’s most exciting brands including Microsoft, GE, Adobe, Disney, Starbucks and NBC Universal. BLITZ is available online at www.BlitzAgency.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6092154&lang=en