And the assault doesn't stop at pop-up advertisements: For example, a blank billboard in San Francisco's Union Square can become an ad for Levi's when the photo previews on your phone. Using GPS, advertisers can pinpoint various locations for ad campaigns and implement a digital overlay when the user snaps a picture.

It's an interesting concept, like many other augmented-reality apps, but it's also problematic. If the advertisements overwhelm everything else, consumers are going to get burned out on these apps very quickly. Rather than creating more logo clutter for consumers, the advertising partners should offer app users special deals or discounts on their products. To "augment" means to supplement or make greater, but a virtual world overloaded with marketing messages isn't exactly better than the real thing.