There aren’t many ASX-listed companies that want to be affiliated with the throngs of teen schoolies celebrating at the Gold Coast. But augmented reality app developer Thred says it’s the perfect place to test its latest technology.

Thred (ASX:THD) — which has no revenue — recently changed focus from social media aggregation to augmented reality after parting way with its founders. The new team redeveloped and renamed the app from Thred to Sweep.

The augmented reality app — which is now in testing — allows users to chat to other people in their vicinity via location-locked chat rooms.

“As soon as you enter a venue with a Geochat available, you can instantly chat and connect with the people around you,” the Sweep app store entry says. “Ask everyone for a beer recommendation, request a song to the bar staff or get notified when happy hour is nearly over.”

Sweep so far has geochats in 14 Sydney venues, three in Melbourne and one for this year’s Gold Coast Schoolies celebration — the annual event where more than 25,000 school-leavers take over the famous Queensland beach.

Geochats are “monetisable” Thred says in its latest investor presentation — though it’s not yet clear how.

“This is not our objective during the trials… Preliminary discussions have begun with larger partners around valuable commercial opportunities for Geochats, but will not progress until our team is satisfied with test and validation results.

“Sweep is one of only two authorised external apps being promoted at the schoolies even, which is a strong indicator of its alignment with our target audience.”

Users of Sweep will also be able to view augmented reality content such as restaurant reviews, historical information or sales discounts integrated into real-world scenes via a smart phone screen.

The app is in testing with a full roll-out expected next year.

Thred is also developing its white-label “Agent Reality” technology as an enterprise version of its business model.

Thred shares closed up 8 per cent at 1.3c on Tuesday, valuing the company at $8.25 million.

The company burned through $1.5 million in the September quarter, leaving just under $3 million in the kitty.

It expected to spend $1.5 million this quarter.

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