The event uses the @thistimeofyear tag on Twitter to mark the beginning of 2012 and the year of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Party-goers can download the specially created app here. 

It uses augmented reality technology to give a surprise which is created by the official London 2012 poster artist Michael Craig-Martin.

The app has been available since December 28 and from today revellers will be able to open it and point their phone at Edinburgh Castle, whereupon the image will appear on their phones.

Then at midnight on New Years' Eve an e-card will appear that can be used as the backdrop for photos being sent to family and friends.

Ruth Mackenzie, the London 2012 Festival Cultural Olympiad Director, said: "We're excited to be working with Edinburgh's Hogmanay for our first countdown event which, in this digital age, brings together new technologies and art for the New Year celebrations in Edinburgh.

"We hope @thistimeofyear will bring a fun dimension to the celebrations as we see in the Olympic and Paralympic year."

Craig-Martin said: "I am delighted to contribute through new technological media to this exciting celebration which is one of the countdown events for the London 2012 Festival.

"Next year should prove an important time for art and culture as well [as] outstanding sporting events."

The London 2012 Festival is due to run from June 21 to September 9 bringing together artists from around the world to celebrate the Olympic Games.

The festival will include highlights such as Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela playing an outdoor concert and the Kronos Quartet performing Terry Riley's Sun Rings in Glasgow at the Riverside Museum.

"We are delighted that part of Edinburgh's Hogmanay is the first countdown event of the London 2012 Festival," said Pete Irvine, the creative director of the Hogmanay event.

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