June second and third the first major US AR event is on in Santa Clara: ARE. Almost all AR companies will be there. Layar co-founders Claire Boonstra and Maarten Lens-FitzGerald will be attending and speaking.

Mail or twitter Claire and Maarten if you want to meet up: maarten at layar.com, claire at layar.com, @dutchcowboy, @claireboo. Recognize them by their Layar bags.

Three chances to see Layar being presented on stage

• Watch Claire speak on Wednesday morning, the second of June, in the Augmented Reality Browser track


• Maarten will be speaking at 12 in the AR business models & opportunities track


• At 7:30 PM Claire will pitch at the Auggies, an Idols style competition and show

You could already find the best sales with the Sales Locator or Local Sale Finder layers, buy things through the eLay Mobile Marketplace layer, or see what people around you bought with the JustBought.it layer. Now you can even walk into the Augmented Reality Hostage shop, and buy street wear from the French brand Hostage Wear. Layar developers take shopping to the next level.

The Hostage layer is a 3D shop linked to Hostage Wear’s existing e-shop and is a crossover between a real store and a webshop. We talked to the creator Herve Pellarin from hpsc.fr to explain us about this new shopping experience.

What’s the difference between a webshop and this new virtual shop in Layar? Herve: “The main difference, is the fact that you have to go to a specific location where the virtual shop is located, to see and buy the products (at least in the distance radius of the layer). These shops can exist anywhere, but at the same time are set to specific locations. This new online shopping approach offers many possibilities for creating special events or private sales around the Augmented Reality shop. For example: ‘Meet Hostage Wear Saturday May 29th from 8AM to 8PM on Broadway for a private sale.’ Users and customers will share an AR experience, but also a common happening at the same location.” What inspired you to create a virtual shop in a layer? Herve: “The whole idea is based on a simple question: Why should famous brands be the only one who can open shops in famous avenues of the world? Why could an unknow brand not have its own shop on these same famous avenues? In a layer, any shop can exist at any point, so smaller shops can open their virtual shops in the biggest avenues.”

Other things you’d like to share:

Herve: “Thanks Layar, for providing such an incredible tool, imagination will soon be the only limit…”