Augmented reality (AR) is a developing technology that overlays computer-generated graphics onto a real image or video. The most popular example of AR is the yellow First Down line on televised football games. We’ve also seen it in rotating billboard displays on soccer and baseball, and briefly, the trailing comet tail to help hockey fans keep their eye on the puck.

Zugara, an interactive agency, experimented with online augmented reality in a couple notable online applications. The Webcam Social Shopper is a virtual fitting room that lets people see themselves in clothing before they buy. It also uses motion capture so a person can navigate the online store by moving their hands rather than stepping up to the keyboard.

They followed up with Cannonballz, a game utilizing a person’s web camera and Facebook Connect so the player becomes part of the action.

Oddcast has a simple AR demo. Just print the unique badge and display it in front of your webcam to bring an animated rocker to life. SekaiCamera is making strides in mobile AR as well; this video from LOEWE Tokyo offers a glimpse.

Location-Based Social Captioning

Layar is a Dutch-made program that enables people to leave comments on images captured by their mobile device. The app uses 3D technology to gauge distances as well as the phone’s compass and GPS or cell tower triangulation. Then, computing all this information on the fly, the real image can be geotargeted so that other people can read the comments and post their own.

People have already demonstrated a desire to share their opinions specifically. Check the level of user engagement in places like Viddler in-play video comments, Yelp reviews and the tips, reviews & crowdsourcing features of contextual location-based apps like FourSquare, Gowalla, BrightKite, Navizon and Waze.

Social captioning seems like a natural evolution of AR. With advanced filtering and administrative control, I can imagine a number of recreational and commercial uses for this kind of application.

• Ratings & reviews Restaurants, bars, local retail
• Visitor attractions City walking tours, Architectural and historical tours, ghost & event tours, sports & convert venues
• Real estate Listings, property details and contact info
• Scavenger hunts For fun & education, geocaching
• Amusement parks Maps, games and awards
• Convention exhibition Product interaction, marketing challenges
• Product testing & consumer feedback Large area or ticket items
• TV/Film Scene caption games, reviews
• Municipal services Emergency response, crime scene investigations, water & gas line mapping
• And more… Education, healthcare, transportation, shipping, traffic & weather, social communities, I could go on.

Layar recently won the Vodafone Mobile Clicks start-up challenge with a €75.000 prize. Here is the presentation they used in their pitch.

To see who is experimenting and applying augmented reality to the real world, visit the AR Consortium.

September 21, 2008 to September 27, 2008

# 7Wario Land Shake It!
The Twittersphere lit up with this week linking to this clever YouTube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/experiencewii

# 6Lizzer Simplifies Content Aggregation
Lizzer has a private beta for its online publishing tool. Community managers, bloggers, extranet and web publishers can search Lizzer for links, pics and videos by subject and get simple embedding code. Check the demo at Lizzer.com

# 5Moximity Delivers Location-based Ads
Moximity delivers location-based offers through social media on mobile devices.

I used to co-office with the founders of Wayport and this was the original idea behind their network of hospitality & travel center hotspots. I guess they were just 10 years ahead of their time.

# 4UGC Helps Opex Scaling
@deckermarketing Posted an excellent article on user-generated content in terms of its operation expense scaling – a value proposition that is sure to please CFOs in tough economic times.

# 3Hack the Debate
TV & social media continue to converge. Current TV & Twitter partnered to show real-time feedback during the debates. Jeremiah found it distracting.

# 2Rapid Response Interactive Media
Alan Edget (@ACEdge) is an F500 social media strategist behind those clever FreeCreditReport.com ads (I love these; their funny & work well on TV & radio). He blogs about his attempt to create an algorithm that measures ROI on interactive media placement. The goal is to be able to rapidly respond to the market & change placements, kind of like options trading.

# 1 First Day of Autumn 2008
I see a few SEO companies are leveraging Google’s logo changes for fresh untargeted traffic. This is a clever ploy to prove their SEO mettle and generate a little buzz. Free and easy, this tactic is bound to become a meme. I built upon their accomplishments to develop the Quirky Holiday SEM Strategy.

BONUSDid you know that Google saved all their holiday and event logos for posterity? I love the preservation of campaigns. It’s a good practice for entertainment, history & long-tail traffic.

September 14, 2008 to September 20, 2008

# 7Seth Godin has an exclusive publication of Ed Welch’s PDF: 101 Ways to Destroy Your Tribe.

# 6I wish I had thought of The Palin Name Generator. Traffic from a funny little meme can help generate some serious ad revenue.

My name is “Axe Diesel Palin.”
@aswenson is “Quarter Granite Palin.”
@jmayson is “Revolver Trooper Palin.”
@pcamarata is “Scat Dubya Palin.”
@baczo is “Copper Catfish Palin.”
@cinerina is “Engine Nighthawk Palin.”
@adam is “Shaver Razorback Palin.”

What is yours? Share it!

# 5David Kramerer’s POV re: Twitter probably resonates with Gen X & Y. He sees Twitter’s benefits for workgroups, professional applications and to document a one-time event in real time.

Millennials, however, have demonstrated less concern for privacy. The Mobile Marketer predicts what most of us already see: Millennials will drive the growth in mobile social networking, which is well-suited for micromedia publishing.

# 4I’m digging the Twitter redesign this week. Much cleaner, lightweight & more flexible for add-ons. I also redesigned my own profile page to better convey my expertise in social media and interactive advertising. People seem to be having a few technical difficulties though, which is fairly common with SaaS upgrades.

# 3When my 4 year old little girl wakes up in the middle of the night because she can’t sleep, she crawls up on my lap and we watch some Schoolhouse Rock classics. Yawn.
“I hope and pray that I will, but today I am still just a bill”

And don’t forget… “Conjunction Junction, What’s your FUNKshun!”

# 2Chris Brogan has started an interesting conversation on defining web authority. There seems to be a blurred line between popularity / web celebrity and knowledge / credibility & reputation. He also lists the web analytics tools we used in measuring impact of the BMW and Become An EX campaigns.

# 1A beautiful blend of science and technology. Dr John C. Taylor introduces the The Corpus Clock and The Chronophage ahead of Cambridge’s 800th anniversary. Stephen Hawking unveils the new clock to the world.