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The augmented reality issue of Esquire, which we mentioned earlier, is now available on newsstands and Mashable has the scoop.

As Editor-in-Chief David Granger demos below, the AR features all supplement content in the print magazine. So, for example, in one of the magazine’s fashion features, tilting your magazine in different directions controls the weather, and the model adjusts clothing appropriately. There’s also a time-based joke – check out the AR component after midnight and the content is different than what you find during the day.

Of course, it’s debatable if this will actually help sales or not. All you really need to do is find a decent resolution picture of the marker and print your own (The image of the cover on various websites is probably good enough), completely removing the need to actually buy the issue.  Also, their augmented reality system isn’t entirely web-based, it’s a downloaded application for PC or Mac (sorry linux folks).

via Esquire’s Augmented Reality Issue Starring Robert Downey Jr. Is Live [VIDEO].

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In an attempt to stave off their own demise (along with the rest of the print industry, sadly), Esquire is banking on the popularity of Augmented Reality by adding various markers to the upcoming December issue.  On the cover is an AR marker (shown) that will show Robert Downey Jr appearing and “offering half-improvised shtick on Esquire’s latest high-tech experiment for keeping print magazines relevant amid the digital onslaught.”.  But that’s not all:

On the page is Esquire’s regular men’s fashion spread, while on the screen, the model is pelted by a computer-animated snow storm. Granger gives the page a quarter rotation, the weather turns sunny and the model starts throwing on summer clothes.

The magazine’s regular “Funny Joke from a Beautiful Woman,” feature gets a new twist from actress Gillian Jacobs in a gray nighty. She’ll tell a second, “dirtier” joke should readers return after midnight.

via Esquire’s December 2009: Augmented Reality Issue With 3-D Animation.

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