Total Immersion was a French augmented reality company based in Suresnes. The company maintained offices in Europe, North America, and Asia. The company became defunct in 2014.
History
Total Immersion was founded in 1999 in Aubervilliers, France, by Bruno Uzzan, who became its CEO, and Valentin Lefèvre, who was its former general director. Their headquarters were in Suresnes, France.
As the company grew, Total Immersion established its first international office in San Francisco, California, in the United States. They later relocated their American branch closer to their clientele in Los Angeles. They also opened offices in London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, with over 90 employees across their 5 international offices.Bejamin F. Kuo, Interview with Bruno Uzzan, CEO of Total Immersion, "SocalTech.com" October 29, 2008Dean Takahashi, "Total Immersion shows off cool new augmented reality game platform", "Games Beat", February 27, 2012
In June 2010, at the very first Augmented Reality convention ever held, it was announced that Total Immersion had created a community logo to encourage the creation of shared standards and a communications framework. This collective, participative process aimed to advance uniformity and organization among Augmented Reality users so that the technological community and new members could recognize the logo immediately."Total Immersion Calls on Industry to Embrace Standards in AR, Unveils AR+ Logo to Provide Clear Identity for AR Solutions", t-immersion blog, June 3, 2010
The company quietly went defunct in 2014 after a supposed sale of its intellectual property by CEO Bruno Uzzan.
Recognition In 2009, the company was awarded the "Best Web-Based Augmented Reality Demo" & "Best Innovative Cultural Product" by Augmented Planet for Dokeo Augmented Reality Children’s Encyclopedia"Total Immersion and Nathan Awarded as Best Innovative Cultural Product 2009 for Dokeo AR Kid Encyclopedia by LSA Magazine", Total Immersion Blog, December 10, 2009
In 2010, the company was awarded the Silver Award for Statoil Event, presented by Jack Morton Experiential Digital Events at the IVCA Awards. It was also awarded the "Best Technological Innovation in e-marketing" & "Best Augmented Reality Application Award" at the Mobile Video Days Awards."Total Immersion won a Mobile Video Days Award in category Best Augmented Reality Application", Total Immersion Blog, January 28, 2010
In 2011, the company was the eCommerce Award Winner for best digital innovation product: ATOL TryLive, bringing together “Physical and Digital” to let consumers try online glasses on live client faces, improving the consumer shopping experience. It also won the "Best Use of Print", Bronze Award for Scirroco Cup Campaign, Ogilvy Beijing for Volkswagen at Media Lions Cannes Film Festival
In 2012, the company won the Phénix Bronze Award from the Union of Announcers for the Volkswagen Augmented Reality Application.Nicolas Bapst,"Volkswagen Augmented Reality Experience Awarded" "Total Immersion Blog", April 3, 2012
Projects Total Immersion provided augmented reality projects for the following notable clients:
Orange (telecommunications): Ray-Ban McDonald's Apple Coca-Cola Nike Dior Gillette Hallmark Cards Taco Bell Volkswagen Pringles Kia Motors Cartoon Network Yoplait Citroën Paramount Pictures eBay Olympus Corporation Volvo Topps Alstom Nissan Motors
References
External links Wired Magazine, Total Immersion Augmented Reality Standards Proposal, AR+ Engage Digital, Total Immersion Announces Adobe Alliance