Lonely Planet has released its ‘augmented reality’ Compass Guides, which are now available for Google Android users in Australia, and provide easy to use mobile access to its best selling city guide content.

Lonely Planet is one of the first travel companies in the world to create augmented reality products and have also released a series of 25 Compass Guides for popular Asian, European and US cities.

Anyone with Android handsets can experience travel with technology that allows the experience to be annotated with Lonely Planet travel information.

All images copyright Lonely Planet

“The application pinpoints your exact location so that when you find yourself in a new city and want to know what there is to see and do around you, just look through the camera and a wealth of Lonely Planet information on the best destinations, accommodation, sites, bars and restaurants appear stuck like posted notes to points of interest around you,” said Lonely Planet’s Innovation and Ecosystems Manager, Matthew Cashmore.

Key features of the Compass Guides include GPS enabled maps, location based information and the ability for users to see their current location and how far or near they are to destinations and sites. The guides also enable travelers to use all content offline (with the exception of the maps) – meaning no roaming fees.

Lonely Planet’s Compass Guides are available for $4.99 USD from the Google Android store (available on all Android powered phones) and will work on all major Android phones back to the very first model, the G1.