Air New Zealand is taking tourism promotion to the tabletop with a new augmented reality board game.

The Air New Zealand Fact or Fantasy Game of New Zealand sees players wear Magic Leap One headsets to view and interact with a 3D map of Aotearoa.

Using Magic Leap technology, users can virtually watch the growth of a kauri tree, interact with a rather grumpy hobbit and get splashed by a breaching whale.

The game was on display at the first L.E.A.P conference in Los Angeles this week.

Magic Leap’s technology works by layering digital objects onto the real world so that light enters the eye as it would with a real object. This means users can see detail both up close and from afar.

Air NZ has been working with the creative team at Framestore for the last 18 months to create its board game.

The airline’s Jodi Williams says it’s important Air NZ continues to discover new technologies to improve the customer experience.

“By getting in early and being both a developer and creator, we have been able to test and learn, creating an incredible platform,” she says.

Ms Williams also says the Magic Eye technology may be used to “reframe customers’ perceptions of the physical cabin environment”.

The Air New Zealand Fact or Fantasy Game of New Zealand can be played by four people and is aimed at educating and promoting New Zealand as a destination.