From AdWeek: {link no longer active}

In essence, [Augmented Reality, or AR] holds the promise of marrying the digital and physical worlds by taking complex data and overlaying it with views of the real world via Webcam technology and multiple screens.

“The last thing I can [recall] getting this much hype is Second Life,” said Matt Szymczyk, CEO of Zugara, a Los Angeles-area digital agency. “But I think there will be more practical uses to this.”

Did you know video games are already ahead of the game in bringing AR into living rooms   Several games like Sony’s EyePet and Microsoft’s Project Natal games aim to bring users into the game, from their face to their movements and more.

These games also want to use everyone s living rooms as part of the game space.  So are we going to see some innovative ways to have sponsors take advantage of this new technology

What about having virtual products placed in people s living rooms, maybe as bonus items that users have to grab to affect the game.  Or how about the ability for a user who, say, is drinking Diet Coke, to have that can recognized by the game and used to unlock special game content

The possibilities can really open up here, and we re looking forward to creative solutions to this.  To show you how far ahead video games are in this field, take a look at this Engadget demonstration of the PlayStation 3 game, EyePet, due out later this year.

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