Many of our readers may remember our blog post showcasing the H-Wing Carfighter that was parked in front of the Trigger LA office one fateful day 3 years ago. Susan, Account Manager at Trigger, visited the Long Beach Convention Center on Saturday for the Comic Expo and happened to run into the awesomely modded car and its owner, Obi-Shawn.

As one would expect, the car is in great shape and Obi-Shawn is a nice guy. For more information about the car, take a look at Obi-Shawn’s website, and for more info on this year’s Comic Expo, peruse this article.

Trigger’s “Multi-National United Training Simulation,” an augmented reality campaign created for Sony Pictures’ District 9, was featured in a video demonstration and article on Wired.com.

Augmented reality is a ground-breaking technology that overlays online data onto a user’s view of the real world. Trigger leveraged this exciting online tool in an application created for the sci-fi hit District 9. The game allows fans to “train” as an MNU soldier working to keep humans and non-humans separate and at peace in District 9.

Check out the video at Wired.com»

Trigger producer Evan Fisk was recently interviewed by National Public Radio’s Marketplace. Evan demonstrated an augmented reality application, the “Multi-National United Training Simulation,” created for Sony Pictures’ District 9.

This application allows fans to “train” as an MNU soldier working to keep humans and non-humans separate and at peace in District 9.

“Augmented reality is basically a way of overlaying 3D information on a video screen” Evan said.

Read the transcript of the full interview at the Marketplace website»

Listen to the full interview»

We’ve launched so many projects lately that we haven’t written about the magical week in San Diego for Comic-Con 2009.

The good:

• Catching the District 9 screening
• Watching the panel for Legion (with Paul Bettany and a spaztastic Tyrese Gibson) and District 9 (with producer Peter Jackson, director Neill Blomkamp and star Sharlto Copley)
• Snagging postcards promoting our District 9 AR and new 2012 iPhone app
• Listening to grown men ask questions about the best way to glue Legos together at the Lego discussion

The bad:

• Cold cheese pizza
• The 4 a.m. Hooburrito at Denny’s
• The three-hour wait to attend the Legion & District 9 panel
• A $65 fine for forgetting to bring cash for the toll road

Check out the photos for more wacky hijinx.

(Special thanks to Super-Producer Evan for contributing to this post.)

Jason Yim, Trigger’s president and executive creative director, was featured on examiner.com following a recent interview at Comic-Con in San Diego. The article, entitled “Trigger LLC and Jason Yim create digital media for District 9 and 2012 movies and much more”, was written by entertainment writer Terra King.

The interview focuses on Jason’s strategy for marketing sci-fi films through new media, the challenge of working on interactive campaigns months or years in advance of a movie premiere, and his career leading up to the establishment of Trigger.

Read “Trigger LLC and Jason Yim create digital media for District 9 and 2012 movies and much more” on examiner.com »

Trigger produced the “Basic Training” iPhone game for Paramount’s release of G. I. Joe. The application gives players a first-hand look at the experience of training as an elite G. I. Joe soldier.

This free game features two different training exercises: “Hand 2 Hand Combat” and “Firing Range.” The global leaderboard tracks the top 20 scores for each activity as well as the best players of the overall application. The game focuses on the iPod’s native touch and accelerometer functionalities; dodge combat opponents by tilting the phone and reload your weapon by shaking the device.

Download the Basic Training iPhone game from iTunes »

I took the photo above in an LA suburb during my work commute yesterday.

Trigger did the MNU website a few months back, but I feel like the propaganda and fear campaigns are getting out of control. Have you called the number in this photo?

Earlier this month, Jason (our President and Executive Creative Director) spoke on a panel about the impact of GPS and location-based services on the mobile industry. Topics included the business models involved, technology considerations, and the convergence of entertainment, LBS, and content. The conversation was captured in a two part article on MobilizedTV.com entitled “Mobile GPS Opens Doors to Content, Commerce.”

In the article, Jason foreshadows that interesting developments in mobile content are approaching, such as applications that offer coupons only when you are in a location. Imagine: “…you’re sitting in a movie theatre waiting for the movie to start. We know you’re at the theatre, so we give you a quiz about the movie and you can go up with a scanner to the popcorn line and pick up a free popcorn. Trigger is also investigating augmented reality and image recognition possibilities. For example: “…Take a photo of a movie poster and image recognition unlocks a coupon.

Although this might sound complicated, in Jason’s opinion, the most important thing is to keep things simple. As he said on the panel, Geeks and nerds get caught up trying to create something amazing, but if 90 percent of your users can figure it out, it’s failed.

Jason also spoke about the agendas involved in film studio marketing, choosing the most appropriate platform for your brand to avoid potential pitfalls, inserting advertising the “right” way, and engaging consumers with a “pull” system.

If you find GPS and LBS as thrilling as we do (and want to know how to entice potential mobile customers), or are a consumer excited about future possibilities in mobile content, you will enjoy reading the articles below.

Read Part 1 of “Mobile GPS Opens Doors to Content, Commerce” »

Read Part 2 of “Mobile GPS Opens Doors to Content, Commerce” »

Being an internal fan of the Trigger blog, I was scouring old posts the other day and found a link to the city graffiti removal service. I was curious whether it still worked (being a new Angeleno as well). After submitting a report of tags near the office, I soon received the following message from the Office of City Beautification:

“On behalf of the City of Los Angeles and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and your city council, thank you for contacting 3-1-1 on May 19, 2009 to report graffiti...”

Hmmm…. Office of City Beautification… can you do something about the smog now?