McDonald's is introducing its own version of augmented reality - marketing-style - in conjunction with this Friday's opening of the expected blockbuster film Avatar.

The fast food chain has developed an interactive game that explores Pandora, the world where Avatar takes place, via high-resolution, 360-degree views - among other sci-fi marketing touches.

McDonald's partnered with Academy-Award winning director James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox in its creation.

The Pandoran World

The game, called PandoraQuest, is accessed on McDonald's local Web sites around the world, starting Dec. 18. It tasks players with such goals as finding hidden objects within three different Pandoran landscapes. If players retrieve all objects, they advance deeper into Pandora and reach their goal of becoming a member of the "RDA Research Team" as in the movie.

Another component is McD VISION, an augmented reality experience that also immerses players in Pandora. There is also an online version of PandoraROVR, the transport vehicle in the film, for players to explore the web version of Pandora.

Resetting the Bar

A 3-D film, Avatar sets the bar high for customer engagement tie-ins, McDonald's U.S. chief marketing officer Neal Golden said. But according to Cameron, the restaurant chain has delivered with its tech-heavy, futuristic look. "When I set out to write this movie [in 2005], I knew that the [computer generated imagery] was about to create a situation where we could do anything that we could imagine," he said. (via Promo Magazine).

"McDonald's has stepped up and met that same level. I don't think anyone has seen anything like what they're doing with these tie-ins, the McD vision augmented reality in particular."

Social Media Piece

McDonald's has also been running a Twitter campaign, asking followers to be the first 10 to decode daily word scrambles. The grand prize is a private screening of Avatar over a - what else? - Big Mac lunch with producer Jon Landau, according to Promo Magazine.