- Alex Palmer

Best Buy joins a growing list of companies tapping into augmented reality technology. On Sunday, the big box consumer electronics retailer incorporated the 3-D technology into an insert advertisement for its Twitter-friendly tech service.
 
Like other recent augmented reality promotions from companies like Procter & Gamble and GE, this ad combines digital technology with physical reality to provide an interactive promotion and give consumers the feeling of actually having an object in front of them.
 
To experience the technology, consumers visit www.bestbuyin3d.com, where they are instructed to hold the insert up to their Web cam. Once the page appears on the screen, a Toshiba computer pops out at them, which they can rotate to view different product angles.
 
A pop-up box follows with a message about Best Buy's new "Twelp Force." Twelp Force is a team of Best Buy technology experts that customers can send questions to via Twitter. The final shot offers product information with a Web redirect that consumers can e-mail or post on social media sites.
 
For consumers who want to try out the technology but do not have a physical copy of the insert, Best Buy allows customers to print out a "marker" which they can hold up to their Web cam for the same experience.