Walmart Exclusively Offering 4D Photo Service

Wal-Mart Stores has joined forces with product development workshop Holoma Inc. to enable consumers to create interactive photo cards and gifts through the holiday season.

"Seeing a photo come to life like this is magical," says Ken Haffner, CEO of Miami Beach, Fla.-based Holoma. "With the readily available video and photo technology on mobile phones, we thought, why not connect the two for a truly engaging experience? And, without altering the photo in any way we can bridge the gap between still photography and video."

A unique feature of Holoma's image recognition technology is that the resulting 4D photo has no sticker, QR code or cropping to mar it. The same digital photo uploaded to Holoma's site can be instantly uploaded in-store at a Walmart photo kiosk, or online at the Walmart Photo Center, to use in creating scannable holiday cards and gifts.

There's no upcharge to print 4D photos at Walmart or to use 4D photos to create cards, invitations and a variety of photo gifts. It costs $9.96 to 4D a photo at Holoma's site, and the photo can then be used on as many Walmart Photo Center items as the consumer wants.

The free integrated scanner app, iDD4D, can be downloaded free at U4D-iT.com, or by texting IDD4D to 33733.

Holoma worked with Cambridge, Mass.-based HubEngage to redeploy its commercial image recognition module in a new format. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart then teamed with Holoma to create the consumer 4D experience available only at U4D-iT.com. The process integrates mobile, print and video media to offer what the companies consider the next generation of photo image recognition software.