Case study · Sony Music South · AR concept, 2016

Sony AR: A newspaper ad that plays the film.

Sony AR is a concept we built in 2016 to pitch augmented reality print ads to Sony Music South. The idea: a newspaper ad that does more than sit on the page. Point an Android phone at the ad and a video screen locks onto it. Tap, and the Tamil Fever film plays right on the newspaper, with sound, staying put as you move the phone. Look away and it pauses.

By Kishore Ravi, founder · Updated 12 November 2026

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Type: AR pitch concept
Pitched to: Sony Music South
Built: Android AR app, 2016
Our role: Concept, AR app design and build

Sony AR: the Tamil Fever film playing on a newspaper ad on a desk

Sony AR: the ad found, with a play button on the video screen

Sony AR: the film seen at an angle, still pinned to the page

01 · The idea

A print adthat plays.

A newspaper ad for a music launch has a problem: you can see the artwork, but you can't hear a note. This concept turns the ad itself into the screen.

We built it in 2016 as a working concept to pitch to Sony Music South: point a phone at the ad in the morning paper, and the Tamil Fever film plays on the page.

The paper they already read

The trigger is the ad itself, so the same print buy now carries the film too.

One tap

The camera opens straight away. Point at the ad and tap the screen to play.

The film, on paper

The video sits flat on the ad, at its size and angle, and moves with the page.

02 · Try the app

Point the phone,tap to play.

This rebuilds the concept in your browser, with the same flow as the Android app and an excerpt of the film it plays. Drag on the screen to move the phone around the page, pinch or scroll to get closer, and tap to play or pause.

Loading…

Point at the ad,
tap to play.

This rebuilds the app in your browser: point the phone at a Sony Music South ad in the newspaper and a video screen locks onto it. Tap, and the Tamil Fever film plays right on the page. Drag on the screen to move the phone, pinch or scroll to get closer.

The newspaper page here is a drawn stand-in, and the film is a 26-second excerpt of the full video in the app. The desk is drawn live in your browser.

03 · How it works

Five steps,one tap.

The app opens straight into the camera. When the tracker recognises the ad, a video screen appears on it with a play button. Tap it and the film plays on the page.

Lose the ad and the film pauses where it was. Point back at it and tap to carry on.

04 · On the page

A film screeninside the ad.

Once the film is playing you can move around it. It keeps its place on the ad, at the right size and angle, as if it were printed there.

The camera is on, looking across the desk for the newspaper

The ad is found: a video screen with a play button locks onto it

Tap, and the Tamil Fever film plays on the page

Seen at an angle, the film stays flat on the ad

01Tap to playA tap on the screen plays the film, and another tap pauses it.

02Pause on lostWhen the ad leaves the frame, the film pauses and waits.

03Full soundThe film plays with its own soundtrack through the phone or headphones.

04Any printThe same trick works on a poster, a hoarding or an album insert.

05 · Architecture

One scene,one printed ad.

The app is a single Unity scene. An image recognition SDK reads every camera frame, finds the ad and reports its position and angle. A video screen is attached to the ad, so it moves with it and stays the right size.

The target image and the film itself are stored inside the app, so it works without internet.

01Image targetThe printed ad, recognised in real time.

02Device databaseTarget images stored in the app, so recognition works offline.

03Video on a planeThe film is drawn onto a flat screen pinned to the ad, every frame.

04Trackable eventsThe screen shows when the ad is found, and the film pauses when it's lost.

05Film in the appTamil Fever, 1280 × 720, four minutes and twenty seconds, ships inside the app.

06Video backgroundThe live camera image is drawn behind the scene every frame.

06 · Technology

Unityand image tracking.

Built in Unity with C# and an image recognition SDK, for Android phones from version 4.0 onwards. Built in 2016 as a pitch concept.

Engine

Unity
C# scripts
Video playback on a 3D plane

Image target tracking
Device target database
Trackable event handlers

Media

Tamil Fever film, 720p
Plays with sound
Pause and resume on tracking

Android

Android 4.0 and later
ARMv7 build
Camera access for AR
Works offline

07 · Where it stands

A workingpitch concept.

Sony AR was built in 2016 as a working concept to pitch to Sony Music South, ready to be pointed at any print ad for a new release.

Done

Built

Ad recognition and tracking
Tap to play, pause on lost
Android build used for the pitch

The demo above follows the app's own flow. The newspaper page is a drawn stand-in, and the film is a 26-second excerpt of the video inside the app. The desk is drawn in your browser.