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The movie Avatar's wild success - $1.12 billion in revenues and counting, according to the Hollywood Reporter -  is highlight the 'wow' factor, not to mention applicability, of 3-D technology in other mediums as well.

Namely, online advertising, which in fits and starts, has begun experimenting with 3-D. MSNBC.com recently launched 3-D-enabled, customized rich media ads on its homepage. The 3-D format, which MSNBC is providing through a partnership with Unicast, gives advertisers several ways to customize an ad, including a pushdown, interactive wallpaper, a custom 3D cube, videos, photo galleries, 360 tours and real-time color selection viewers.

Another example is Best Buy, which ran a campaign this past summer, embedding an augmented-reality code in its Sunday circular. Users held the circular to a webcam, which triggered a 3-D image of a Toshiba notebook.

Idaho Turns to 3-D

One of the more comprehensive - and quiet - 3-D campaigns is currently being beta tested by the state of Idaho, which has one of the smallest tourism promotion budgets in the country, but desperately wishes for a larger piece of the $3 billion tourism industry (via Business Week).

The state's Division of Tourism is putting the final pieces in place for a new system dubbed SiteSeer3D Gold that allows prospective visitors to virtually fly over the state and check out attractions, lodging and scenery.

Other Alternative Strategies

Idaho's also using new 360-degree panoramic photography on its tourism website, exploring an iPhone app and planning a campaign for spring around the reality show-style story of a stressed-out Seattle family that won a free Idaho vacation, according to Business Week.

The 3-D campaign, though, is meant to be as much a planning tool for prospective visitors as it is an edgy marketing device. Someone planning to drive from Boise to another city, Sandpoint, could use the 3-D augmented application to plan where to stay, and decide what attractions to visit.

Avista Corp. donated aerial photography of North Idaho to the state that would have cost the state $100,000 to take itself. The system also incorporates data from 30,000 "points of interest" that includes 400 boat launches, 17,000 miles of hiking and biking trails.