March 2017

Slingshot (previously known as AR Group) to represent Indonesia at SXSW Interactive Trade Show 2017 in Austin, Texas.

Slingshot (previously known as AR Group) is one of the five Indonesian companies that have been chosen to represent the nation at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festival, which runs from March 10-19 in Austin, Texas. Slingshot was selected for participation in SXSW 2017 Interactive Trade Show by BEKRAF (Indonesian Government Agency for Creative Economy) along with four other national technology leaders, they are, Go-Jek, PicMix, GDP Venture and Emtek alongside 5 Indonesian start-ups. This prestigious event in Texas annually plays host to the most diverse, collaborative and innovative communities in the world. “We are honored by this opportunity to represent our country at this world class event. As a global company, coming from Indonesia, this is indeed a golden opportunity for us to showcase our creative and innovative technological achievements, which are highly relevant in today’s marketplace”, said Slingshot CEO Daniel Surya.

Having served more than 20 countries globally with presence at various key cities including Singapore, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, New York, Barcelona, and Malta, Slingshot has positioned itself as a globally heralded and pioneering leader in the field of Augmented Reality technology. The largest Augmented Reality and Innovative Technology company in Asia, Slingshot has received numerous awards for creative technology from international bodies, including for two years in a row, being awarded as “Best Augmented Reality Campaign” category winner at the Augmented World Expo in Silicon Valley, California (USA), listed as one of the Global 40 Most innovative companies awarded at the London Stock Exchange, Gold category winner at the SMARTIES APAC for its project in Vietnam, Best Use of Technology Category winner at the Marketing Events Award 2013 (Singapore), Asia’s Best Entertainment Channel 2012 by the 3rd CMO Asia Award (Singapore), The Most Innovative Game by Indonesia Game Show 2012 (Indonesia), listed in Asia’s Best Study Case 2010 by TechinAsia, and one of its units namely MindStores is being awarded as the world record holder for being the first 3D virtual store network presented by MURI Indonesia in 2016.

Supported by the highly experienced team of management, creative, and engineers, Slingshot has been selected to represent the nation as its solutions have been proven as highly relevant to the market by serving some of the best brands from across industries such as Disney, Cartoon Network, Castrol, as well as developing an application for the recent Nigeria’s presidential election. In 2016, It also delivered an Augmented Reality application that was shown during the launch of the latest flagship store of Billionaire Boys Club in New York – owned by international artist Pharrell Williams, and launched a series of Augmented Reality collectible pins series for Star Trek Franchise at the 50th Star Trek Anniversary convention in Las Vegas and New York Comic Con. “It is one of the top three Augmented Reality companies in the world. Proud to be working with them to create a cutting edge products for our company.” said Dan Madsen who is a partner at Fansets and former president of the official Star Wars Fan Club as well as publisher of the Star Wars insider magazine.

The South by Southwest Conference and Festivals is one of the world’s most notable events, celebrating the convergence of interactive technology, film and music industries. Over the years, the event has positioned itself as the premier destination for discovery. Founded in Austin, Texas in 1987, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals, which have become an essential destination for global professionals, featuring sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions and a variety of networking opportunities. As noted by Wired.com, SXSW is a forward-looking event aimed at understanding the future and featuring exciting keynote speakers including Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as celebrated individuals from across artistic disciplines, such as JJ Abrams, Kirsten Dunst, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Guillermo del Toro, Snoop Dogg, Lady Gaga, Joss Whedon, Rob Zombie, and many more.

Slingshot CEO Daniel Surya noted that the cream of the global creative crop will gather in Austin and his company is proud to carry the flag of Indonesia to the event. “This will certainly give the world a different look at Indonesia and our creative capabilities,” he added.

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For more information
About AR Group, please visit: www.slingshot.group
About SXSW, please visit: www.sxsw.com
AR Group is part of WIR Group : www.wirglobal.com

Desember 2016

​ASTARK together with AR&CO launches the first Augmented Reality Football Trading Card Game in Indonesia

On the 2nd to the 4th of December 2016, ASTARK in partnership with AR&Co held a launching event for ASTARK: FOOTBALL, the first online football mobile gaming app with Augmented Reality trading cards in Indonesia. ASTARK is a local start-up founded by Arthur Irawan, a young professional footballer from Indonesia who has played in several football clubs around the world such as Manchester United, Spain’s Espanyol B and Waasland-Beveren of Belgium.

ASTARK: FOOTBALL has released its first series, INDONESIAN ALL STARS, featuring 30 of ‘the best football players and coaches in Indonesia’ including Bambang Pamungkas, Raphael Maitimo, Achmad Jufriyanto and Johan Alfarizi. The aim of the game is to collect as many ASTARK cards as possible to recruit, train and manage your own dream team of the best Indonesian football players to compete against other Users’ virtual teams. With this Augmented Reality trading card game, ASTARK and AR&Co hopes to elevate the awareness and image of local football icons in Indonesia who are often overshadowed by the publicity of international football celebrities like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

A three-day exhibition was held in the Main Atrium of Senayan City where passersby get a chance to create their own limited edition custom-made ASTARK: FOOTBALL card, making them an addition to the INDONESIAN ALL STARS club. Football fans also received the opportunity to meet and greet with some of their favorite ASTARK players in person.

The last day marked the official launch of ASTARK: FOOTBALL, when both media groups and football enthusiasts gathered as Peter Shearer, being co-founder of AR Group, and Arthur Irawan gave introductory statements about the product, as well as Bambang Pamungkas who gave his verbal appreciation and support towards the ASTARK: FOOTBALL brand as being a channel for Indonesian football fans to connect, get to know, and build emotional bonds with their national football heroes.

November 2016

​Voice of America broadcasts AR&Co to be a Big Player and Game Changer in the AR World

voa-web-picture

AR Group recently welcomed to meet with the crew of The Voice of America at both our HQ in Indonesia as well as the AR Group office in Silicon Valley. The Voice of America (VOA) is a dynamic international multimedia broadcaster with service in more than 40 languages, providing news to now a weekly global audience of 187.7 million since it started in 1942. After conversations with the AR Group team during interviews as well as experiencing first-hand some of the AR projects that have been developed, VOA acknowledges that AR technology can be utilized for numerous functions in diverse range of industries such as for gaming, promoting brands, learning, interactions even as far as for Presidential campaigns.

Backed by projections from Digi-Capital that Asia will lead the AR market in year 2020, VOA gives the statement that Indonesian-based AR&Co is set to be a big player and ready to be a game changer in the AR World. Not only that, VOA also mentions Digi-Capital’s projection that the AR industry will be worth 90 billion dollars in 2020, four times more than the projected value of Virtual Reality.

October 2016

​The launch of Slingshot (previously known as AR Group) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange, Jakarta

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Slingshot (previously known as AR Group) was proudly launched to the public on Friday morning on the floor of the main hall of the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Daniel Surya, CEO of Slingshot was given the honor to ring the opening bell of the stock market, and the event marked the unveiling of the group that specializes in Augmented Reality technology.

The event was attended by journalists, business partners, and other key stakeholders. In this opportunity, Slingshot’s 3 business units were introduced to the public: AR&Co, DAV, and MindStores. The 3 units are leaders and pioneers in their own specific offerings, and received lots of attention and coverage from the media. In this opportunity, the audience also got a teaser of a new technology currently under development by Slingshot which involves the human-eye retina.

July 2016

先進国を差し置いて急成長するインドネシアのARスタートアップたち

このほど米国シリコンバレーで開催されたAR(拡張現実)の祭典「Augmented World Expo」(AWE)で、インドネシアの会社が先進国のライバルたちを差し置いて賞を獲得した。

インドネシアのAR & Coは、そのAR技術を駆使したモバイルアプリ「Flying Farm」で、ベトナムのとあるミルクブランドの売り上げを19%も上昇させた。その実績により、AWEにおけるベスト・キャンペーン部門を受賞したのである。

「Flying Farm」
ベトナムのミルク「Dutch Lady」が展開したモバイルアプリ「Flying Farm」(ソース:Youtube

彼らがこの賞を獲るのは実はこれが初めてではない。2015年度も、ナイジェリアの大統領戦でムハンマド・ブハリを勝利に導いたことで受賞をしている。その時、彼らが作ったのは、スマホの画面をブハリの写真や政党ロゴに向けるだけで、彼の大統領候補としての抱負がわかるモバイルアプリだった。

さらに、それに先立つ2013年には、英国の経済誌The New Economyが定期的に選出する革新的企業40社(i40)のリストに初の東南アジア企業として堂々と入っている。

Auggie Awardのトロフィー
Augmented World Expo 2016/Auggie Awardのトロフィー

インドネシアで初めてAR事業を展開し急成長

AR & Coはインドネシアで初めてAR事業を展開した会社で、ジャカルタにて2009年に設立。現在はアジア最大のAR技術企業として、インドネシア国内はもちろん、シリコンバレー、バルセロナ、シンガポールにもオフィスを構え、世界17カ国ものプロジェクトを手がけている。

AR & CoのホールディングカンパニーであるWIRのチーフ・ビジネス・デベロップメント・オフィサーのピーター・シアラーさんは、「インドネシアの我々が世界で勝負できる秘密は、欧米に引けをとらない品質を低予算で実現できることだろう」と語っている。

このWIRが、AR & Co以外にも次々とテクノロジ、主にARをベースにしたスタートアップを生み出している。WIRは同じ志を持った6人の若者が集まって作った会社で、社名は「We Indonesia Rocks/Rules」の略。世界を舞台に活躍するインドネシア人の誇りを表現している。

傘下のスタートアップには、たとえば店舗に設置する小さなスクリーンを展開する「DAV」がある。通りすがりの来店者に声をかけたり、宣伝対象の商品をスクリーンにかざすとゲームができたりするなど、インタラクティブに楽しめる広告メディアだ。端末そのものがDAV君というキャラクターの形で親しみやすくなっている。

DAVをデモンストレーションしている様子
DAVをデモンストレーションしている様子(ソース:Beritasatu.com

従来の広告と違うところは、消費者が積極的に店頭の商品を手にとるよう促すことができる点。これにより、どのエリアでどの時間帯に多く商品が手にとられているかといったデータも収集できる。現在、ジャカルタとスラバヤで、地元大手小売店のアルファグループ(アルファマート、アルファミディ、ローソン)と組んで展開を始めている。今後は性別や年齢なども判別できる機能も開発中とのこと。

そのほかのスタートアップとして、この7月にスタートしたばかりの「Mindstores」がある。ARとVRを駆使した3Dバーチャル店舗で、主婦でも学生でも誰もが100万ルピア(約8000円)さえ払えばスマホ上に自分のショップを持つことができる。

Mindstore第1号のAlfamindをダウンロードするサイト
Mindstore第1号のAlfamindをダウンロードするサイト

現在、コンビニのアルファマートと提携をしているが、大型のものやアクセサリーなど、店頭ではあまり売られていない商品を主に取り扱っている。売り上げはオーナーへのコミッションやポイントという形で還元される。

ユニークな経歴をもつ創業者

WIR創立メンバーであるピーターさんはユニークな経歴の持ち主だ。ジャカルタの高校を卒業後、すぐにオーストラリアに渡り、マクドナルドや工場、レストランの皿洗いなどの仕事を1年半ほど転々とした。そして19歳の時に帰国し、父親の縫製業を1年間手伝ったあと、広告学校に入学した。

21歳で広告代理店に就職したものの、数カ月で退職。制服専門の縫製会社をはじめ、ケータリング、オンラインのフードデリバリーサービス、レストラン、マジックショップなどを次々と起業。2008年に広告学校で出会ったパートナーとWIRを展開し、現在に至るという。

ピーター・シアラーさん
WIRのチーフ・ビジネス・デベロップメント・オフィサー、ピーター・シアラーさん

このような野心的な若い人材の斬新なアイデアと積極性が、インドネシアのAR業界を支えている。 現在ではたくさんの競合が生まれてきているが、この状況についてピーターさんは、「インドネシアにおけるARのエコシステムが育ってきている。我々も、月に最低2回はセミナーを開いて人材を育成している。DAVのコンテンツだって、誰が作ってもいいわけだ」と好意的に受け止めている。

(編集協力:岡徳之)

Source : http://japan.cnet.com/sp/startup_asia/35085674/