An iPhone app in Japan has people searching for invisible butterflies at popular shopping centres. The animated butterflies are placed as GPS location points where they flit and flutter about. Shoppers with an iPhone 3GS and the iButterfly app can reveal the hidden creatures by turning on their cameras and using them to look around. When pointed at the right spot, the butterflies appear on-screen and shoppers can then try to get close enough to "catch" them by flicking their phones quickly. Once caught, the butterflies transform into downloaded coupons that can then be used at nearby stores. Each butterfly is different and iButterfly users are encouraged to try to collect them. Some butterflies will only appear at certain areas of Japan, but users can connect their phones to each other using a wireless Bluetooth connection to share butterflies with each other and help their friends complete their collections. 

Creators Mobile Art Lab are distributing iButterfly through a partnership with Dentsu magazine as a novel way for stores and brands to promote their services. Butterflies that are caught can deliver a range of content beyond simple coupons, including maps, brochures, and web links. A online ranking system will keep track of the best butterfly catchers and a future release will include a link between the butterflies and Twitter.

iButterfly uses the concept of Augmented Reality. It requires an iPhone with a mobile internet connection and active GPS. The software uses your GPS location to find nearby butterfly data points and then animate them within your camera to display how far they are from you. When you "catch" them by flicking your phone, it's built in motion sensor registers the movement. When done at the right GPS location, it activated the software to download the associated coupon.