The hype behind augmented reality has been growing over the past months – with London seemingly being used as a test ground for it’s practical uses.

During the highly enjoyable Wimbledon Tennis Championships, we saw the trialing on the IBM Seer Android which uses the video display,  GPS navigation and built in compass to guide the user through the Wimbledon landscape. Live feeds overlay the display to give the user information directions to certain areas, and further still to update match scores, congestion in restaurants and more. The information all fed through human updates, by spies situated in each of the relevant areas.

Since then an i-phone app has been touted on youtube showing the latest generation using similar technology to help Londoners and visitors to the city navigate the city and find their nearest tube station.

The app at present wouldn’t be allowed to launch as it breaks apple contractual agreements – the technology is astounding and will surely come to play an enormous part of our lives in the future.

Although Vodafone’s spoof viral featuring Lewis Hamilton may be taking the technology and exaggerating it’s features for brand impact and viral qualities – it makes for some opportunities for great campaigns. What a fantastic product to market and furthermore what a landscape to market on.

I’m sure we can expect to see strategies including Augmented Reality ad sites soon after the technology is launched to a mass market.