Australian tennis fans are about to get the opportunity of a lifetime: they can download an app for iPhone or Android that will add a 3D “augmented reality” overlay to advertisements for KIA Optima cars.

Instead of having to endure the normal stream of advertisements that interrupts every Australian sporting event, SMG Red, a unit of the Seven Network (which broadcasts the tennis) has created an augmented reality application that will “bring a 3D animation of the KIA Optima from the television screen onto the mobile phone”.

Lucky viewers, instead of watching the 2011 Australian Open, will instead have the chance to “interactively select and compare the car’s available colours, view specifications and turn the lights on or off”, according to a Seven media release.

Users of the app only need to point the phone to the KIA logo to launch the animation, and to make sure no opportunity is missed, “the animation will continue to play once the phone has been moved away from the KIA logo, giving users time to fully experience the features.” ®

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