Point this app at your TV screen and it overlays all kinds of augmented-reality goodies

An Intel-funded startup wants to bring augmented reality to your television screen. Telibrahma‘s Point uses image recognition technology to turn your smartphone into a tool for a “second screen experience.”

Using the Point app, you point your smartphone at an image on the TV screen, and it starts an interactive sequence. If you point it at a product in a video, movie, commercial, or TV show, the Point technology recognizes what’s in the image and gives you a visual overlay that further describes the product or helps you figure out how to buy it. The technology can recognize moving images as well as still ones and will work with 3D games.

“Point provides a Shazam-like experience for consumers that takes them to the next level of engagement, and we’re thrilled to offer this exciting technology to users,” said Suresh Narasimha, chief executive and founder of Telibrahma, in a statement.

The company is unveiling the tool for consumer engagement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today.

Point also works with print ads, editorial content, brand logos, newspapers, magazines, and websites to create “real world” experiences for consumers on their mobile devices. The technology tries to outdo QR codes in that respect, as it can recognize more than just bar codes or scan diagrams.

Telibrahma is working with brands such as Dove, Nokia, Nike, and Toyota. The company was founded in 2008 and has offices in New York and India. It works with iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, and Windows.