Augmented reality is up there with location-based social technology in the next-big-thing (or is it already a big thing) category for PR and social media.

So, whether innovative or simply inevitable, Hill & Knolwton is claiming the mantle of creating the first augmented reality news release -- a dispatch for the Cannes Lions advertising festival.

As chief marketing officer Tony Burgess-Webb tells it: “The concept is simple: recipients receive a document with a special marker printed on it, go to our website and hold up the document to their webcam. Our promotional video (featuring our esteemed CEO without trousers) then appears to play directly on the piece of paper.”

Porter Novelli used AR technology for a campaign supporting a client at the SXSW Interactive event in March.

The check out H&K's play, turn on your printer and webcam and go here. A video of the technology in action is embedded below.

On what lies ahead for AR releases, H&K' senior VP Boyd Neil quipped: "Is there a future in augmented reality news releases? If fun is a criteria for news release success, then I think so."

Augmented Reality News Release Demonstration from Hill & Knowlton on Vimeo.