NEW YORK (PRWEB) – Wine Enthusiast, the leading wine lifestyle magazine, has partnered with Augmented Island Studios to create an augmented reality (AR) experience for the cover of their May 2019 Wine & Tech Issue. As Wine Enthusiast’s first ever tech-focused edition, the issue dives into innovations that are radically changing the wine industry.

“It felt like it was time to have a conversation about wine and tech,” says Executive Editor Susan Kostrzewa. “Technology is dramatically changing how wine is grown, produced and enjoyed. The modern wine drinker’s pursuits are inextricably linked to tech innovations as is the industry’s evolution as a whole. ”

“Given the proliferation of augmented-reality applications across the wine and beverage world right now, from wine labels that come to life, to pop-up vineyard tours that people can experience in tasting rooms across the world, AR seemed like a natural fit for how we could bring the cover of this exciting issue to life in a modern and energetic way.” adds Managing Editor Lauren Buzzeo.

Through the use of the Wine Enthusiast AR app, available for both Android and iOS devices, the May issue’s augmented-reality cover brings the wine and tech theme to life. When viewed through the app, the cover is activated in a vibrant, dynamic way to introduce a dazzling, multidimensional visual overlay to the content, offering readers a new perspective on the synergies between wine and technology.

“From beginning to end, working with Wine Enthusiast on the development of their augmented reality magazine cover has been an absolute pleasure,” says Augmented Island Studios CEO Enrique Sánchez-Rivera of the collaboration with Wine Enthusiast. “We couldn’t have asked for a better fit between teams. The entire Wine Enthusiast team gets it. AR is transforming the way in which we consume information and with this first augmented cover, Wine Enthusiast has become one of the few print publications who can now call themselves a leader in the print/AR fusion space.”

Launching the Wine Enthusiast AR app with the cover of the magazine’s Wine & Tech Issue is a part of Wine Enthusiast’s category leadership as an innovator in wine media. The company intends to continue evolving and augmenting the app to offer readers even more progressive content through this emerging technology and medium.

“As a new generation of reader and wine drinker is coming of age, we want to be telling stories in the most engaging, dynamic and fun ways that we can,” notes Wine Enthusiast Senior Vice President of Publishing Jay Spaleta.

Beyond the unique AR cover, the first of its kind for a wine publication, the Wine & Tech Issue is brimming with fascinating content on exceptional and groundbreaking technologies that are acting as real agents of change. Wine Enthusiast’s Wine & Tech content aims to inform readers in a fun, educational yet unpretentious way about this complex coupling. From a look into at-home gadgetry, grape-DNA analysis or 3-D barrel printing, the intersection of wine and technology affects all consumers.

To experience Wine Enthusiast’s first AR cover, download the Wine Enthusiast AR app, available now for iOS and Android devices here. The May Issue of Wine Enthusiast hits newsstands Tuesday, April 9th 2019. To learn more, please visit https://www.winemag.com/wine-tech/