I really wish that I was at Comic-Con now, as this worldwide showcase of comics often displays some new gadgets, not to mention the 411 on the comic-book movies of next summer.

For example, Mattel has introduced a new line of action figures based on the long-awaited James Cameron film Avatar. This is not to be confused with The Last Airbender, a film based on a Nickelodeon series that coincidently had Avatar in its title.

These Avatar toys use augmented reality, something that I have referred to as the Coolest Gadget ever. It works when one of the toys is placed in front of a webcam. Software provided by Total Immersion then takes over, and the monitor will display information about the character, 3-D animations of the character, and even more pictures.

There is also a plan for bonus features for the “deluxe figures”. These are figures with a 3-D tag, or i-TAG, on the back of them. Scanning these guys will cause them to come to life on the user’s monitor, and placing two i-TAGs together will have them interact.

I believe that I discussed Augmented Reality being used on baseball cards before, but this is the first time that I have seen it used on action figures. I’m surprised that no one else has tried this before, this could be the beginning of a new wave of action figures that actually spring into action.

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