The latest issue of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper’s SZ magazine, which goes on sale today, has been enriched with multimedia content which can be enjoyed by anyone using an iPhone or Android phone.
Working in conjunction with Augmented Reality (AR) firm metaio, the publishers have combined print with AR overlays that can be seen through iPhone and Android handsets loaded with metaio’s junaio AR app.
The cover of the magazine shows TV personality Sandra Maischberger hiding behind her raised hands. When viewed through the smartphone`s camera, however, she appears smiling cheerfully at the viewer. Inside is a photo interview with Lena Meyer-Landrut, who recently won the Eurovision Song Contest. When viewed through the smartphone, litte speech bubbles appear with jibes and comments she couldn`t help making during the shooting of the interview.
Axel Hacke’s column triggers a 3D animation by the illustrator Dirk Schmidt. Finally, the editors and journalists of the SZ Magazine reveal their favourite spots in Munich, Berlin and Hamburg in a virtual city guide. Readers in those cities who hold up their smartphone will see the camera view augmented with indicators pointing out restaurants, bars, clubs, shops and hotels around them. 
To enjoy the additional AR content in the SZ Magazine, iPhone and Android users need to download the junaio AR browser from iTunes store or Android market. Selecting the SZ-Magazin channel activates the animation triggered by the magazine content, while the SZ-Magazin Lieblingsorte channel enables users to discover the city guides.
“The SZ Magazine always tries to extend journalistic frontiers,” says editor-in-chief, Dr. Dominik Wichmann. “We don`t just write about new cultural or technical developments, we practise them. Instead of just reporting on Augmented Reality, we have developed, with the help of metaio, a magazine issue which for the first time allows our readers to actually experience this new technology within a journalistic format.”
There’s a video about the AR issue of the magazine here.
