“So much awesomeness out there,” says Zappar CEO and Co-Founder Caspar Thykier.

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And he and his team are simultaneously adding to that awesomeness–and democratizing it.

With their recent project, LEGO® Mythica, London-based augmented reality/creative studio Zappar was instrumental in creating  the first amusement-park experience of its kind.

Visitors to LEGOLAND® Windsor get to visit different “portals” through augmented reality.    LEGO® statues come to life in augmented reality.  Alicorns, hydra and chimera appear in an alternate world.    Three new augmented-reality attractions take guests into a mystical realm.

Central to the LEGO® Mythica experience is “Flight of the Sky Lion”, the UK’s first flying theatre ride.

While Caspar has described LEGO® Mythica as a “dream project”, Zappar has a number of additional milestones to celebrate.    Recently, they celebrated their ten-year anniversary.  Along the way, they’ve won multiple awards.

But perhaps most excitingly, their mission of democratizing immersive technology continues with their brand-new six-degrees-of-freedom affordable headset, ZapBox.

Recently fully funded on Kickstarter, ZapBox is now accepting pre-orders.  The price?  Listed at $40.  Caspar says the next iteration of ZapBox is due out this upcoming October.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to know more about creating your own augmented-reality experiences, Zappar also has a toolkit, ZapWorks.

Caspar shared the story of Zappar, talked about his experiences with the LEGO® Mythica project, and offered a preview of what’s next!

On this edition of Over Coffee®, we cover:

• The serendipitous experience that led to augmented reality first capturing Caspar’s creative imagination;

• The story of Zappar;

• A closer look at the LEGO® Mythica project;

• Some of the creative challenges involved in bringing the magic to life;

• What Caspar and his team experienced, just prior to the new experience opening;

• What he considers most magical about creating Mythica;

• Some of the keys to making AR work well, from Caspar’s experience;

• Caspar’s “Five C’s” framework for success, in AR;

• A closer look at ZapWorks and ZapBox.