VentureBeat

Metaio, a German company in the burgeoning field of augmented reality, is creating a mobile platform that will let people leave and view notes or 3-D animations in places using their phones.

Augmented reality, which overlays information or animations into a live camera feed, may take off with the proliferation of smartphones. Metaio’s browser lets you leave photos, tweets or animations of 3-D characters in physical places for people to discover later using a camera-based browser. It’s also integrated with Facebook, so users can share geotagged notes with their phones.

The browser will put Metaio, which traditionally has been involved in creating one-off marketing promotions like this augmented reality Lego packaging, in more direct competition with companies like SPRXMobile and Mobilizy that have launched browsers this year. In the past, Metaio has worked one-on-one with brands to develop special advertising and if they were to extend that to the platform, they could potentially work with chains to create location-based ads that are visible in a camera viewfinder.

Business development manager Noora Guldemond says Metaio’s product will support iPhone, Google Android, Symbian and Windows Mobile phones. The company is based in Munich, Germany with 50 employees around the world and is funded by the company’s owners.

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