UK's O2 to get first taste of HP's augmented reality via Telefonica deal

Telefonica has signed up to use augmented reality (AR) from HP.

The Aurasma AR tech, developed by Autonomy and subsequently acquired by HP when it took over the British company last year, will be used by Telefonica to create new marketing offerings.

Aurasma will be integrated into a range of media services to be used by Telefonica's brand and advertiser customers, the Spanish mobile company announced on Monday.

AR allows marketers to bridge the gap between online and offline, typically by means of a mobile app. Once a user views an object through their phone's camera view that the app recognises, the AR superimposes additional content or images over the top. For example, when the phone's camera is pointed at a photo in a company's newspaper advert, the app will recognise the image and show a promotional video over the top of the photo.  

Telefonica will kick off a push to get its users to download the Aurasma iOS and Android app – which has been downloaded four million times since its launch last year – and will use AR in its own marketing campaigns.

Telefonica's UK mobile operator O2 will be the first to start making use of Aurasma, with the tech rolled out to the rest of the company's 25 markets "in due course".