arplace: The Austrian Social Network for Augmented Reality

A social media network for augmented reality (AR) in which users can create content on a platform, project it into reality and share it with each other. This is the basic idea behind the Upper Austrian startup arplace.

The founder and CEO of arplace is Willem Brinkert. The German-born founder, who grew up in Portugal, got the idea for the start-up from his childhood memories. "My parents often went on Schnitzeljadgen with me. I eventually moved to Austria and continued this tradition here with my daughter. But in Austria, unlike in Portugal, outdoor adventures are not so often possible because of the worse weather. My idea was to make the scavenger hunt concept possible digitally as well," says Brinkert.

Brinkert launched arplace in 2020. The young company is developing a platform into which users can insert their own digital objects in addition to existing 3D assets. Through various tools, it should be possible to edit these and then integrate them into reality. "We offer a basic infrastructure in which it is possible to create your own AR content worlds. It is particularly important that the content created by users belongs to them alone. This way, users can create their own scavenger hunts or fantasy worlds at will and share them with others," says the arplace CEO.

arplace wants to offer companies an infrastructure

However, Willem Brinkert points out that there will of course also be moderators on the platform. The app has a strong focus on the protection of minors and will also offer a tool for rating and, in extreme cases, reporting content. Even though arplace was only launched two years ago, the young company has already been able to raise one million euros in outside capital from a Berlin investor, according to Brinkert. The AR app is expected to go live as early as next year.

The application will be free of charge for users. Companies that want to create advertising content with the app, on the other hand, will have to pay a fee. "The advantage for companies, however, is that they can use an existing AR infrastructure here instead of having to develop their own. With us, they can upload their already existing assets and then use them to create exciting AR experiences," explains Willem Brinkert.

The future lies in AR instead of the metaverse

After the global launch planned for spring 2023, arplace wants to focus on growth. This includes a new location and an increase in the team. Willem Brinkert is convinced that AR has a much greater future in the social media world than the virtual worlds of the Metaverse, to which Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for example, is adamant. "Humans are social and need proximity to others. That's why a digital addition to reality is much more exciting than a replacement. We offer a much nicer future scenario than the Metaverse and believe that a lot of digital will soon take place on AR glasses or contact lenses. The only question is on which platform that will happen. That's exactly the platform we want to be," is Brinkert's vision.

Source: trendingtopics