AUSTRALIA – Australian technology company Immertia has launched Displai, a platform designed to turn regular product packaging into interactive, digitally enabled packaging.

Founded by Matt Hallberg, Luke Chaffey and Dave Chaffey,  Immertia brings augmented reality, software development and digital marketing strategy together to create a virtual experience on every package.

The platform allows consumers to scan product packaging with their smartphone, activating an augmented reality overlay.

Augmented reality then provides animated packaging, a 3D product display, and interactive virtual buttons and scrolls.

Immertia Managing Director Dave Chaffey says the technology has ‘limitless’ potential to engage consumers, but there are barriers to the use of augmented reality.

“That means that many concepts are either one-off, not really matching consumer needs, or not scalable for widespread use. We’ve overcome those barriers and created some sensational solutions. We’re looking forward to bringing these concepts to the mainstream.”

Whilst augmented reality has been around for a few years, the exciting technology has largely been out of reach for most businesses.

“This is the first truly accessible solution for product packaging,” says Chaffey. “The platform makes it easy for brands to add virtual experiences to their products, which consumers activate with their smartphones.”

“It can be setup and activated across millions of products in days and will even work with the products currently in the supermarkets and sitting on kitchen shelves in homes.”

The company has attracted interest from pharmaceutical company Bayer, as well as contracts for wine breweries Swig and Winerytale in the United States.

“We were surprised to get that call [from Bayer]. They’re a massive group – 100,000 people on the team. There’s only four of us,” added Chaffey.

The firm’s creation for Bayer includes an interactive virtual display, including a holographic person inside the packaging. The hologram then provides information about the product, in English or Spanish.

Bayer’s Global Innovations Team stated: “The technology [Immertia] is bringing to market is just phenomenal. We’ve shared the project with several markets and their feedback has simply been, wow, what do we do next?”

To continue in its expansion quest and reach many businesses, Immertia is conducting a capital raise of US$1.8 million to continue its expansion.

The company is also seeking expressions of interest from investors for share issues of US$50,000 to US$1 million.

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