• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, July 31, 2015

Mobile advertising platform StartApp has announced a 3D, gyroscope-based ad for mobile app developers. Now consumers can immerse themselves in an advertisement.

“Advertisers need to have new and engaging ways to display their products in the ever evolving landscape of mobile gaming and apps in order to continue capturing users in an increasingly saturated market,” says Dror Yosef, StartApp’s chief data officer.

Smartphones are equipped with sensors that already provide a wealth of data to advertisers. Ads like this are helping pave the way for more engaging mobile and wearable ads.

Tel Aviv-based Jelly Button Games, developer of the free-to-play game "Pirate Kings," is the first client to test out the new ad format. Based on a demo, the ad can only be viewed in vertical, but makes good use of a smartphone’s sensors from that position.

Several big names have already jumped on the 360-degree train. In March, YouTube and Google introduced 360-degree ad support for the YouTube app and Google Chrome.

Eccentric Icelandic singer Bjork released a 360-degree music video a few months ago, and Coke and Bud Light have both run 360-degree ads. Coke reportedly claims that the view-through rate on such outperformed regular in-stream ads by 38%.