Imagination Park Acquires Key Patents for the Augmented Reality Industry
Patent portfolio covers augmented reality and location-based games
Vancouver, Canada: Imagination Park Technologies Inc., the augmented reality (AR) platform that enables businesses of any size to create and implement their own AR campaigns with no programming or technology experience, has acquired a patent portfolio from XMG Studio Inc.
XMG has been a pioneer in augmented reality (AR) gaming and location-based games in 2011, including the developer of the successful Ghostbusters™ Paranormal Blast game in partnership with Sony. Patents US 8,668,592 and US 8,777,746, included in their portfolio, are the valued IP assets Imagination Park plans to leverage for its XenoHolographic AR Platform and license to its clients as well as AR gaming companies from a soon to be formed wholly owned subsidiary. Imagination Park will pay XMG Studio CAN$50,000 in cash and 5 million shares for the portfolio and the transaction is anticipated to close this week.
According to Alen Paul Silverrstieen, CEO at Imagination Park, “We have been interested in this specific patent portfolio since last summer and are thrilled to secure this intellectual property, as the Augmented Reality industry is expected to significantly grow in the coming years. These patents can protect our client AR location-based implementations as well as can generate new license revenue from other companies, which are leveraging AR to deliver immersive game-play by location.”
We believe Imagination Park has one of the most advanced AR platforms in the market today and their target market is in complete alignment with this valuable patent portfolio,” said Ray Sharma, former founder of XMG Studio Inc. and presently founding partner and CEO of Extreme Venture Partners. “We have full confidence in Imagination Park’s management team to execute on their strategic business plan and successfully deliver AR to the global marketplace.”
The core portfolio of five issued patents covers multiple new and growing uses for augmented reality gaming where geo-location is a key part of the game-play. In popular use cases, mobile game players activate their cameras to engage game-play where their characters can see and interact with the world around them. The player’s location is detected – and this is key – the game-play and story-line options will change depending on the player’s actual locations. As players interact with the game and other players, both at their current locations, and as they move to other locations over time, the patented systems and methods change the story-line.
Imagination Park acquired five properties including U.S. Patent 8,668,592 for “Systems and Methods of Changing Storyline based on Player Location”, No. 8,777,746 for “Gestures to Encapsulate Intent”, No. 8,759,710 for “Systems and Methods of Virtual Goods Trading Using Ratings to Ascribe Value to Virtual Goods”, No. 8,882,595 for “Systems and Methods of Importing Virtual Objects using Barcodes” and No. 8,903,132 for “Efficient System and Method for Body Part Detection and Tracking”. Former XMG Studio Founder Ray Sharma is credited as one of the inventors on each patent and application.
With this Imagination Park hopes to build on its vision to enable every business, from professional sports franchises to small retailers, to develop interactive AR campaigns that blend the real and digital worlds. Customers simply point their mobile device at logos, signs, buildings, products, landmarks and more to instantly engage videos, information, advertisements, coupons, 3D holograms and any interactive content all hosted in the cloud and managed using a menu-driven portal. Integrated real-time analytics means that all customer interaction is tracked and measured in real-time. The AR Enterprise platform supports both iOS and Android mobile devices and upcoming wearable technologies.