• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, September 9, 2011

As the fall season ramps up, NBC is promoting its fall lineup by allowing Bloomingdale's shoppers to pose with the new stars -- virtually. The "Look the Part, Be the Part" program uses the GoldRun augmented reality app, which superimposes images and data atop phone cam snapshots.

Via an app, the customers can download to their iPhones or an iPad 2 app that Bloomingdale's reps will be carrying around the 44 stores. They can have their picture taken with the stars of "The Playboy Club," "Whitney," "Free Agents" and "Prime Suspect."

The GPS-enabled AR app detects your presence in one of the Bloomingdale's outlets. When users take images of themselves with the virtual stars, they have the opportunity to share the image and enter a contest for a free trip to the set of one of the shows, as well as a grand prize walk-on role in "The Playboy Club" series.

This is the first such program to run under GoldRun's newly released version 2 of the app. The upgrade of the AR app gives the user greater control over objects in the scene as well as push notifications.

GoldRun designed the app as an AR platform in which partners can run social media games, sponsor guides and create virtual photo booths of the sort NBC is using. The program runs through Sept. 25.