Weekly Mashup 70

Hang art on your wall virtually using digital gallery’s new AR app TechCrunch

Digital art marketplace Curioos launches new augmented reality app letting you see what works from their catalogue would look like on your walls. Curioos currently has over 3,000 pieces by 500 artists to select from.

The future of gaming is colour, freedom and reconfigurations of familiar games The Guardian

The Guardian’s gaming writers hosted a futurist seminar, predicting that ‘the near future of games probably won’t be about staggering innovation; it’ll be about the quiet evolution and combination of well-worn ideas’.

Augmented reality vs. virtual reality: Which will achieve mainstream success? Beta News

A look into the differences between AR and VR, and which is more likely to be adopted by consumers. Plus, the Smart Glasses Market 2015 report claims AR glasses will be more popular than mobile phones by 2025.

App combining Tinder swiping and ‘mystery’ photo-sharing raises $6.5m TechCrunch

Swipe, an app combining the swiping aspect of Tinder with the photo-sharing of Instagram, has raised $6.5m in funding. The app’s catch is that you don’t know who took the photo unless you open a dialogue with them.

A book cover that judges YOU unless you open it without prejudice CNET

‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,' they say. And now there’s a book that will only open if you treat it neutrally. The Cover That Judges You, fitted with facial-recognition software, was created by Thijs Biersteker of Dutch creative agency Moore.

Google buys children’s app-maker Launchpad Toys Mashable

Google is buying Launchpad Toys, a San Francisco startup that makes popular mobile apps for children, including an augmented reality app called TeleStory and an animation storytelling tool called Toontastic.

The future workplace is staffed by holographic people and has drones delivering coffee IT Wire

Coffees delivered to your desk by drone and cross-continent conversations with holographic people will in the workplace of the future, according to the Future of Business: Australia 2040 report by software provider MYOB.

Why are QR codes more successful in China than in the West? Wall Blog

China has successfully adopted QR codes for two reasons: it is a mobile-focused country rather than a computer-centric one, and instead of Facebook they have WeChat, a social platform with an inbuilt QR scanner.

Super Bowl Sunday taught marketers that in-store spend is as important as TV ads Wall Street Journal

Advertising executives have spoken about the importance of splashing cash on in-store marketing opportunities – especially during big events such as the Super Bowl - which can deliver better ROI than costly TV ads.