Hot Mobile AR News Posts

How To: Fake Your GPS Location & Movement to Cheat at Pokémon GO on Android

A strange thing is happening: there are people, groups of people even, walking the streets day and night staring wide-eyed at their mobile phones and laughing like manic children. What are these people doing? Are they taking pictures? Are they participating in some new social media craze? Is their activity an omen that the zombie apocalypse is upon us?

News: Marvel Expands Roster of Avengers Playmoji for Pixel Playground Ahead of 'Avengers: Endgame'

The marketing team for Marvel Studios is doing "whatever it takes" to make sure you see Avengers: Endgame when it hits theaters in a couple of weeks, including offering an updated set of augmented reality Playmoji for the Playground app on Google Pixel.

News: New App Lets Your Trace Drawings from Your Phone onto Paper

Get ready to draw like Leonardo da Vinci, or, at least, trace like him. A new augmented reality app, SketchAR, is the first mobile app that uses AR to allow users trace an image on real paper. The Lithuania-based company describes their product as "an application through which the user sees a virtual image on the surface of which they are planning to trace a sketch."

News: Snapchat Doubles Down on AR Billboards to Promote Snap Originals Series

It looks like Snap's foray into augmented reality billboards last year was successful, as the company has returned with two more outdoor advertisements for its Snap Originals series.

ARCore 101: How to Create a Mobile AR Application in Unity, Part 1 (Setting Up the Software)

If you've contemplated what's possible with augmented reality on mobile devices, and your interest has been piqued enough to start building your own Android-based AR app, then this is a great place to to acquire the basic beginner skills to complete it. Once we get everything installed, we'll create a simple project that allows us to detect surfaces and place custom objects on those surfaces.

News: 8th Wall Beats Google & Apple to Market with an AR Platform for Web

Google and Apple are working to enable augmented reality content for the web, but startup 8th Wall has managed to launch a web AR platform that works on mobile browsers now.

ARKit 101: How to Measure Distance Between Two Points on a Horizontal Plane in Augmented Reality

In our last ARKit tutorial, we learned how to measure the sizes of horizontal planes. It was a helpful entryway into the arena of determining spatial relationships with real world spaces versus virtual objects and experiences.

News: Facebook Copies Snapchat Again by Putting Augmented Reality Camera Filters in the Main Facebook App

Facebook is aware that Snapchat is killing the social media game amongst the youths, which makes sense, because in 2017, video is king in social media currency. Facebook has continually shown that Mark Zuckerberg and crew seem to think the best strategy to keep up is to simply copy them.

News: This Facebook AR Filter Lets You Become the 'Joker' Just in Time for Halloween

Whether you loved or hated the blockbuster hit Joker for its slapdash violence and unflattering portrayal of mental illness, if you have been online lately, you know you can't afford to miss it.

News: Disney's 'Maleficent' Brings Its Magic to YouTube with Augmented Reality Make-Up Experience

Dark mode themes for mobile apps are all the rage these days, but YouTube is taking that a bit literally with its latest augmented reality experience.

News: Harry Potter Fans Can Now Summon a Wizarding World Sorting Hat in Augmented Reality

If you need to know whether you are really a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, then it's time to get yourself an augmented reality sorting hat.

News: Apple's ARKit 3 Casts Next-Level Illusions via Meisai AR App

Now that iOS 13 is in the wild, developers are starting to show off the magical augmented reality powers ARKit 3 can deliver.

News: Team Behind Popular Photo App FaceTune2 Jumps on the AR Bandwagon with Cosmetics Try-On Filters

Following in the steps of Snapchat, Instagram, and YouCam, another popular photo app has gotten into the virtual try-on augmented reality game.

News: Here's What You Need to Run ARKit 3 on Your iPhone or iPad

If you've been putting off upgrading your iPhone or iPad, you might want to start shopping for a current-generation device to take advantage of the latest capabilities in ARKit 3.

News: Apple's Third Generation of Animoji Adds Memoji Customization & Stickers to Messages

Apple is giving iPhone owners even more options to express themselves via Animojis with a wide range of customization options for their personal Memojis.

News: Samsung Elevates Galaxy Note 10+ with Depth Camera for 3D Scanning & Augmented Reality Apps

The mobile augmented reality war for dominance between Apple and its Asia-based rivals is in full effect.

How To: Translate Foreign Text Live in Real Time Using Your Smartphone

Early last year, Google purchased Quest Visual, acquiring the immensely popular augmented reality translator app Word Lens in the process. While Google did put the feature on the Google Glass, they spoke more about implementing Word Lens into their Translate app sometime in the future.

How To: Cheat at Pokémon GO Without Getting Banned

Gotta catch 'em all, right? That's easier said than done, considering that Pokémon GO has region-specific characters that you may never get a chance to see. Sure, you can spoof your GPS location to make the augmented reality game think you're at a different spot on the map, but Niantic Labs seems to be catching on to this method, and some users have been soft-banned for a few hours after trying it.

ARKit 101: How to Place Grass on the Ground Using Plane Detection

Ever notice how some augmented reality apps can pin specific 3D objects on the ground? Many AR games and apps can accurately plant various 3D characters and objects on the ground in such a way that, when we look down upon them, the objects appear to be entirely pinned to the ground in the real world. If we move our smartphone around and come back to those spots, they're still there.

News: Sherwin-Williams Uses Augmented Reality to Take the Guesswork Out of Paint Color Selection

Do you see a red door and wonder if it might be a good idea to paint it black? You could "ask Ask Sherwin-Williams," or, better yet, you could just ask the new augmented reality features in the retailer's mobile app.

Apple AR: Demo Lets You View the Clothes You Want on a Moving Person

Imagine walking into a store with your own personal model to show you how any clothing item you want is going to work.

News: Walmart & Target Unwrap New Augmented Reality Features to Bring in Holiday Shoppers

This year's holiday shopping season is shaping up to be fertile ground for augmented reality to show its worth, as both Walmart and Target have crafted immersive experiences designed to engage shoppers in the coming weeks.

ARKit 101: Get Started Building an Augmented Reality Application on an iPhone or iPad Quickly

The reveal of Apple's new ARKit extensions for iPhones and iPads, while not much of a shock, did bring with it one big surprise. By finding a solution to surface detection without the use of additional external sensors, Apple just took a big step over many — though not all — solutions and platforms currently available for mobile AR.

News: Snapchat Drapes the Statue of Liberty in the American Flag for Fourth of July Augmented Reality Lens

Under the rocket's red glare and the bombs bursting in air, the Statue of Liberty is swaying in celebration this Fourth of July thanks to Snapchat.

News: Theaters Turn to Mobile AR Gaming to Reclaim Pre-Show Movie Experience

Moviegoers who arrive at the theater early are no longer a captive audience for the ads, trivia, and miscellaneous content that precede the movie trailers than run before the feature presentation, as the ubiquity of the smartphone has become the preferred distraction for early birds at the theater.

News: Sony Gives Spider-Man a New Augmented Reality Home via iPhone & Android Apps

Fans of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man have yet another way to experience the web-slinger in augmented reality.

News: Google Teams with New York Times to Deliver 'Stranger Things' Augmented Reality Easter Egg in Newspapers

The promotions around last week's release of Stranger Things 3 have been numerous, with Netflix at one point even taking over an entire baseball field via augmented reality.

Apple AR: Occipital's ARKit App Offers Room Scanning on Par with Tango for iPhones

In off-record discussions with AR experts, the consensus on ARKit is that it takes a software approach to the depth-sensors available on Tango devices. As a result, the toolkit has shortcomings, such as detecting walls and vertical surfaces.

News: Google Unleashes the Powers of Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover in AR via New Pixel Playmoji

Although Apple's Animoji game is strong, as recently exampled by its Ariana Grande collaboration, Google isn't slacking either, unleashing a far more immersive music experience for smartphone users.

How To: Improve Your Pokémon's Stats in Pokémon GO

In Pokémon GO, having an in-depth understanding of your Pokémon's stats and abilities is crucially important to becoming a better player. Not all Pokémon are created equal; as such, it's critical that you look at each of your Pokémon—even duplicates—with a keen eye.

News: Snapchat Is Helping the Music Industry Reinvent Music Videos via Lens Studio

There have been enough music artists releasing Snapchat AR experiences over the past week to fill a small festival. Count them with me: Bruno Mars. Gucci Mane. Kodak Black. Missy Elliot. Imagine Dragons. Panic! At the Disco.

ARKit 101: How to Detect & Measure Vertical Planes with ARKit 1.5

In a previous tutorial, we were able to measure horizontal surfaces such as the ground, tables, etc., all using ARKit. With ARKit 1.5, we're now able to measure vertical surfaces like walls!

ARKit 101: How to Place 2D Images, Like a Painting or Photo, on a Wall in Augmented Reality

In a previous tutorial, we were able to measure vertical surfaces such as walls, books, and monitors using ARKit 1.5. With the advent of vertical plane anchors, we can now also attach objects onto these vertical walls.

News: Terrifying Swarms of Mosquitoes Help David Beckham Fight Malaria with Facebook AR Effect & Billboards

Former soccer star and current celebrity David Beckham has the augmented reality abilities of Facebook and Instagram as allies in the effort to eradicate malaria from the world.

News: Facebook Brings Its AR Camera Effects to Instagram & Messenger Apps

On Tuesday, on the one-year anniversary of the announcement of its AR Camera platform, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg revealed at the company's F8 developers conference that the platform will be extended to the company's Instagram and Messenger apps.

News: Snapchat Scores Viral Hit with Nike Augmented Reality Experience Starring Lebron James

Lebron James, or King James to his royal subjects, is extending the reach of his kingdom beyond basketball and into the realm of augmented reality.

News: YouTube Unleashes First AR Makeup Try-On Tool with Mac Cosmetics

While Modiface, YouCam, and others have been playing in the virtual make-up marketing pool for a while, here comes Google ready to splash down with a cannonball.

News: Instagram Goes Retro with Augmented Reality Tribute to Classic Windows Desktop

Just because augmented reality is the technology of the future doesn't mean it can't reach into the past of computing.

News: Shazam Pours a Tall Glass of Augmented Reality Marketing for Shackleton Whisky

Apple's in-house music identification app Shazam has been quiet on the augmented reality front since officially joining Cupertino's finest last year, but a new promotion gives AR enthusiasts an occasion to raise a toast.

ARKit 101: How to Pilot Your 3D Plane to a Location Using 'hitTest' in ARKit

Hello, budding augmented reality developers! My name is Ambuj, and I'll be introducing all of you Next Reality readers to the world ARKit, as I'm developing an ARKit 101 series on using ARKit to create augmented reality apps for iPad and iPhone. My background is in software engineering, and I've been working on iOS apps for the past three years.