NEW YORK - StraxAR, the augmented reality (AR) communication (AR) platform that connects students, consumers, and fans, to immersive media through a simple phone scan, today announced a groundbreaking collaboration with Frank Conwell Middle School in Jersey City, N.J. The integration of StraxAR into their 2023 yearbook allows students, staff, and parents to relive the school year through AR videos created and activated with StraxAR™, rendering the yearbook an immersive, interactive, and evergreen experience.
"Since initiating our pilot project to study curriculum and communication, led by the late Dr. James Markey (former director of communications for the JCBOE) with the Jersey City Board of Education in 2021-22, we've cultivated strong relationships with students, leaders, and educators," said Alan Mariotti, co-founder of Strax Networks. "From our initial launch of the district-wide logo magnet implementation as an immediate AR information channel for parents, we've been thrilled to be available to transform learning approaches that can suit all grade levels and student needs. The results have been extraordinary."
This initiative, a first in school yearbook publishing, was developed by the school in partnership with Strax Networks, StraxAR's parent company. The unique AR content, designed for this project, transforms memories into a dynamic journey through the year. The 2023 yearbook, a result of synergistic collaboration between the school and students, led by principal Richard Stellato, and the StraxAR team led by Eric Singleton, founder and CEO of Strax Networks, provides an array of AR videos. The StraxAR app, free and without the need for QR codes, unlocks these interactive features by recognizing photos, words, and graphics to benefit all areas of education such as math, english, history, and music.
Users who interact with the AR experience are automatically redirected to an additional destination for deeper engagement with the yearbook content. The "redirect" destinations are regularly updated, ensuring the yearbook experience remains fresh, engaging, and evergreen.
"We're transforming memory encoding and recollection by integrating StraxAR technology into this yearbook," Singleton shared. "Our goal is to enhance user engagement in education and other sectors by evolving our AR communication platform."
The yearbook offers readers an extraordinary way to revisit their school memories. Through StraxAR, digital AR content revitalizes the photos and pages, creating a truly unforgettable yearbook experience. "It is the first of its kind in the nation," said Irwin Sternberg, board member of Strax Networks Inc. "We are able to scale within days to layer dozens of elements of AR content throughout the entire book, and then empower the school and their team to change and update this content at will, instantly distributing the changes to every yearbook, regardless of their location in the world."
