http://arcona.i o , a blockchain-powered augmented reality (AR) platform, and London-based Advir http://advir.co , the first ad programmatic platform for VR and AR, will help users make their digital projects profitable. Integration of the two companies is planned for later this year after Arcona completes an ICO. A new partnership between Arcona, a blockchain-powered augmented reality (AR) platform, and London-based Advir, the first ad programmatic platform for VR and AR, will help users make their digital projects profitable. Integration of the two companies is planned for later this year after Arcona completes an ICO.

Arcona, a blockchain-powered ecosystem that provides a link between the real and virtual worlds, creates a digital layer to surround the earth. The first digital zones will appear in 2018 in London, New York, and eight other cities favoured by tourists and investors. The layer is broken into areas that are sold to the public in the form of tokens. After acquiring land, owners can create their own virtual worlds and projects.

“People need an incentive to buy and develop digital lands,” said Daniil Girdea, co-founder of Arcona. “This is where Advir comes in.”

In contrast to VR worlds, which are completely disconnected from reality, Arcona is overlaid on top of the real world, creating new opportunities for real estate companies and businesses in local areas.

Starting in 2014 Arcona’s founders launched the world’s first eight AR parks in six countries to give tourists the opportunity to combine regular journeys with time travel. By using a smartphone and an AR headset, travelers can see architectural wonders of the past with their own eyes and witness historical events in real time and in the actual locations that they took place.

Advir is the first programmatic monetisation platform aimed at VR and AR. Its solution is a Unity plugin, which enables content owners to define the area of their content – the inventory – that will be sold to advertisers. For example, if a landowner designs a virtual building, they can place a billboard on it.

Connected to millions of real world advertisers through its ad network partners, including Yahoo and AOL , Advir will auction billboard space to the highest bidding advertiser. Every time someone visits the land and sees a billboard with the ad, the landowner makes real money.

“There is a misconception that virtual worlds are just for play, and not as valuable as the real world,” said Sam Huber, Advir’s CEO. “Advir is a virtual estate company empowering people to build real businesses in the digital world. The fit with Arcona is perfect, as they are building a digital layer across the world, which will give users an infinite number of opportunities to develop their projects.”

Advir also supports video and 3D ads, such as product placements that users have the ability to purchase. The company also uses location and contextual data to output the most relevant ad for the end user, to both minimise disruption and maximise publisher’s revenue.