Augmented Reality in Esquire Magazine

I gotta say, that when I hear about Augmented Reality these days (the *new* *big* *up-and-coming* *thing* in the digital space), it is generally in conjunction with mapping and navigation. (All kinds of crazy cool stuff happening here and I can't wait to try out a bunch of it next week in San Francisco...).

So this little video surprised me a bit - I hadn't heard of people combining Augmented Reality and print....and digital...all in one. But Esquire magazine is doing it this month. Based on the clip, I have to say it still looks a bit more gimmicky than really useful (unlike the augmented reality for the mapping and navigation applications). But the potential is there.

It also looks like it might be a bit of a pain in the neck to experience. You have to download special software (I assume QR code reader software...) and install it, and then hold the magazine up to a web cam...and then you get the extra content. There should be a way to consume more easily. Of course...they need to offer the same content via the iphone...is the next obvious step.

Here's the promo clip: