Some branded iPhone apps are useful: Dunkin’ Run makes it easy to collect co-workers’ drink requests for company coffee runs, for instance, while Whole Foods Market Recipes [iTunes link] lets users compile a shopping list and suggests recipes based on the ingredients on the list. Other apps, like those by Conde Nast Traveller and Tiger Beer even use augmented reality in a useful (rather than gimmicky) fashion.
And then there is Ben & Jerry’s Scoop of Happiness app [iTunes link], which was just re-released with a new augmented reality-enhanced feature called Moo Vision. Holding up a pint of New York Super Fudge Chunk, Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Milk & Cookies ice cream to your iPhone will cause vector images of cocoa farmers, Manhattan skyscrapers and, uh, flying chickens to magically spring forth from the lid. You can click to find out exactly why these various images are appearing and — get ready for it — share the information with your friends on your favorite social networks.
Thematically, the feature makes sense. The app already has a “Mystic Moo’s Flavor Fortune” game, featuring a shawled, bejeweled and bespectacled cow with a crystal ball that will help you predict which flavor you’ll be most in the mood for during your next trip to the grocery store. I’m apparently destined to crave a pint of Phish Food this morning, which should sit great after my six-mile run.
In all seriousness, what’s actually cool about the augmented reality function is that there are no QR codes involved — in other words, Ben & Jerry’s didn’t have to go through an expensive package redesign process to add the new feature to its app.
Call me a killjoy, but I feel that the app needs to offer something a little more useful or interactive to justify the 21.5 MB of space it’s currently taking up on my iPhone. You can use the app to locate Ben & Jerry’s stores on a map, but you can also do that with Google Maps; what would be useful is if you could identify every location that sells Ben & Jerry’s icecream, including grocery and convenience stores. But I appear to be the exception — before the update, the app was the 37th most popular free app in the App Store, according to the company.
Check out the video preview below and let us know what you think of the app’s new feature. Do you tend to gravitate towards apps that are more fun or utilitarian in nature?
Video Preview
Disclosure: Ben & Jerry’s is a Mashable sponsor.
Reviews: App Store, Google Maps, Mashable
More About: Augmented Reality, ben & jerrys, iphone app
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