30/12/2009 by

To Be Launched: Adidas Augmented Reality

In 2009 we saw an increasing number of mixing real and virtual worlds, commonly known as augmented reality and probably best known in Android and iPhone app Layar. Just before the end of the year Adidas announces to also tap in to this hip technology.

In February 2010 you’ll be able to buy a pair of Adidas sneakers that can be used to control a digital world on your screen. All you have to do is show your shoe to your webcam and the virtual world will open.

‘Controlling’ pictures by holding your shoes in front of your webcam sounds cool, but Adidas want to take this one step further and teamed up with Dutch Xform who will develop no less than three games. Games you will control with your sneaker.

We’d like to see how game control and other interactive uses by means of augmented reality develop in the coming year when maybe the gimmick factor will make place for a wider spread functional use of AR. For example used in widgets that can be spread through social networks (for which spread and ROI can be fully measured with metrics technologies like ViralTracker).

Adidas sneakers tagged with the AR codes will be for sale from February and cost you no more than your average pair.