More brands are using augmented reality in their OOH, so it’s no surprise that a company has come up with a universal app that consumers can use to access the AR, which also serves as a directory of  city transit shelters that provide an augmented reality experience.

That’s just what Ad-Dispatch – in collaboration with Astral OOH – recently did with it’s new iRiS app. Jonathan Burns, VP of sales, Ad-Dispatch, say it’s the first universal OOH app for augmented reality in the country. Meaning that the app, which allows a consumer to access multiple AR executions, can be used by the entire out-of-home industry in Canada. Other OOH companies like Zoom, Media City and Clear Channel are currently also looking into using iRiS.

Tech enthusiasts can follow their favourite brands in the app and “leverage it as a conduit to the brand and choose AR experiences by destination, and by different out-of-home spaces,” he explains. Burns adds that the iRiS app is also financially viable for a marketer, where a standalone app for a one-off campaign would cost more than to build the marketing experience and then “drop it into the universal app.”

The first to use the app was Drambuie, starting this week when it launched its new and younger look. Burns did not disclose which brands will be using the tech next, but notes that typical brands using AR technology include those in the entertainment, automotive and alcohol and beverage category.

Burns believes that brands are turning to augmented reality to be a part of their marketing because “everything that’s in an [AR] app can be a trackable moment.” Advertisers can measure social sharing, as well as dwell and immersion time within the app (which Thompson says can be, on average, six minutes at a time) and it can also track the number of people interacting through downloads and scans.