Mobile AR News Features
ARKit 101: Creating Simple Interactions in Augmented Reality for the iPhone & iPad
As a developer, before you can make augmented-reality robots that move around in the real world, controlled by a user's finger, you first need to learn how to harness the basics of designing AR software for a touchscreen interface.
News: 'Diminished Reality' App Does Augmented Reality in Reverse
Coming soon to an Android device near you: Diminished Reality! What's Diminished Reality? A lot like Augmented Reality, really, but with one big difference: Where AR giveth, insinuating virtual elements into a live representation of the real world, Diminished Reality taketh away, hiding actually-existing objects within a live feed.
News: New 'Jurassic World Alive' AR Game Takes Everything Great About Pokémon Go & Adds Dinosaurs
The premise of Jurassic World revolves around splicing genes to create new dinosaurs, so it is fitting that the location-based AR game is a clone of Pokémon GO merged with the DNA of the Jurassic Park franchise.
News: Welcome Baby Yoda into Your Personal Space with Google Search AR
Google, you have something that I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. In a few moments, it will be mine...and it can be yours, too, dear readers.
News: 10 New AR Features in iOS 12 for iPhone & iPad
Apple's iOS 12 has finally landed. The big update appeared for everyone on Monday, Sept. 17, and hiding within are some pretty amazing augmented reality upgrades for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. We've been playing with them ever since the iOS 12 beta launched in June, and here are the things we learned that you'll want to know about.
News: Marvel's 'Avengers — Infinity War' Gets a Full Range of New AR Treats on Facebook
Like Marvel's Avengers, Facebook's Camera AR platform now has a number of new AR superpowers at its disposal, so it is fitting that Earth's Mightiest Heroes have the distinction of displaying them.
News: The World of Horror Just Got Real with the Augmented Reality Game 'Night Terrors'
Augmented reality allows for all kinds of experiences to happen just about anywhere, and that creates some incredible potential for entertainment. While games like Pokémon GO take you out into the world, one crowd-funded game wants to keep you inside—to scare the crap out of you in your own home.
Hands-On: Here's How Augmented Reality in Google Search Works
Lions and tigers and bears are just a few of the animals that Google users can now bring into their physical environments.
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.
How To: Make Your Own Animoji Karaoke Video
Introduced along with the iPhone X, Animoji are animated characters, mostly animals, that are rendered from the user's facial expressions using the device's TrueDepth camera system to track the user's facial movements.
News: Can You Play Pokémon GO While Driving?
Do I really need to tell you that it's a bad idea to play Pokémon GO while you're driving? I really hope it's not necessary, but just in case it is, here you go: It's a bad idea to play Pokémon GO while you're driving.
News: Star Wars Unleashes Adorable AR Porgs via Snapchat
To promote Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Disney and Lucasfilm released virtual porgs into the wilds of Snapchat via a Sponsored Lens on Sunday.
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.
ARCore 101: How to Create a Mobile AR Application in Unity, Part 4 (Enabling Surface Detection)
One of the primary factors that separates an augmented reality device from a standard heads-up display such as Google Glass is dimensional depth perception. This can be created by either RGB cameras, infrared depth cameras, or both, depending on the level of accuracy you're aiming for.
News: Instagram Creators Launch Filters for Harry Potter, Pokémon & Simpsons Characters in Augmented Reality
The developer who gained notoriety for his What Disney Are You? augmented reality filter on Instagram is striking again while the iron is hot.
News: Hand Tracking for Augmented Reality Apps Comes to Smartphones via uSens
This time last year, computer vision company uSens introduced a stereo camera module capable of hand tracking. Now, uSens can achieve the same thing with just a smartphone's camera.
News: Google Working on AR Walking Navigation Mode for Maps
At Google's I/O developer conference keynote on Tuesday, ARCore may have been absent, but Google did preview a potentially trailblazing augmented reality feature for Google Maps.
Apple AR: Apple Smartglasses in Progress, Ready for the Public by 2020, Report Says
Like gas on an open flame, rumors and whispers have flared up in recent months around hopes of augmented reality smartglasses from Apple. But among all the false leads and unsubstantiated chatter, we finally have a credible report that some sort of Apple AR smartglasses are actually in development.
Apple AR: Virtual Dog Demo by Ridgeline Could Be the New Tamagotchi
This demo made with Apple's ARKit is 13/10 and features a very good boy. Since the ARKit was announced, there have been rumors going around about what it could mean for pet lovers who want to see augmented reality dogs. The popular Twitter We Rate Dogs has created a Good Dogs Game app that lets you have a your own virtual dog, but now Ridgeline Labs have also entered the arena with an ARKit dog game of their own, and it's the best thing I've ever seen.
News: Papa John's Launches 'Spider-Man: Far from Home' AR Experience via Snapchat
In the Tom Holland era, it appears to be impossible to promote a new Spider-Man movie without an augmented reality experience, a trend that continues with Spider-Man: Far From Home.
News: Apple's LiDAR Scanner on New iPad Pro Provides Possible Peek at How Its Smartglasses Will See the World
Just as predicted (but perhaps with less fanfare than usual), Apple has made the move of adding a depth sensor to the rear camera of its latest edition of the iPad Pro.
News: Pokémon GO Just Gamified the Non-Sedentary Lifestyle
Pokémon GO, the biggest augmented reality sensation ever, broke app store records this opening weekend. But it also did something even more important: it gamified physical activity.
How To: Use This App to Test Out Tattoos Before They're Permanent
If you're in the market for a new tattoo, the biggest hurdle to clear is imagining exactly how it's going to look. It's going to be part of your identity for the rest of your life, so you have to make sure it looks just right—or as your mom probably told you, "Think of what it's going to look like when you're 60."
News: Pokémon GO Cheaters Are Ruining the Game & Real Life
Pokémon GO, the global augmented reality game that's brought fans out of their homes to catch Pokémon across the planet, has brought about plenty of real-world positives. Unfortunately, when players get power hungry and start taking game hacks too far, we all get a little screwed—both digitally and in real life.
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: Unity Builds Developer Bridge Between ARKit & ARCore Apps with AR Foundation Tool
A new set of APIs for Unity promise to make it easier for developers to publish apps that support both ARKit and ARCore.
News: Amazon Sumerian & 8th Wall Weave Web AR Experience for 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Movie
Sony Pictures has tapped the powers of augmented reality as provided by startup 8th Wall & the Amazon Sumerian development platform to help it promote the latest motion picture manifestation of Spider-Man.
News: Posemoji App Lets You Use Your Body to Create Augmented Reality Emoji & Designs
The great thing about augmented reality is that so much is possible using the emerging tools and software, your only real limit is your imagination — that includes making real versions of imagined products.
ARKit 101: How to Place a Virtual Television & Play a Video on It in Augmented Reality
In a previous tutorial, we were able to place the Mona Lisa on vertical surfaces such as walls, books, and monitors using ARKit 1.5. By combining the power of Scene Kit and Sprite Kit (Apple's 2D graphics engine), we can play a video on a flat surface in ARKit.
ARCore 101: How to Create a Mobile AR Application in Unity, Part 2 (Setting Up the Framework)
With the software installation out of the way, it's time to build the framework within which to work when building an augmented reality app for Android devices.
News: 8th Wall Spins Up New 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Augmented Reality Experience for Blu-Ray, DVD Release
Hollywood loves sequels so much that studios and their marketing teams are not too proud to release a sequel of an augmented reality promotion.
News: Now There's an Animoji for Rick from 'Rick & Morty'
Two characters from the popular sci-fi animated comedy Rick and Morty have already made their way into augmented reality courtesy of ARKit experiments. Now, it's possible to become one of them on the iPhone X.
News: Snapchat Mutates X-Men Fans via Augmented Reality to Sell Tickets for 'Dark Phoenix' Movie
Augmented reality is often likened to granting superpowers to mere mortals, but what about mutant powers?
News: Google Just Acquired Instant Translator Word Lens—All Language Packs Free for a Limited Time
According to a statement on its website, Quest Visual, the company behind the highly-regarded live translation app Word Lens, has been purchased by Google. This news has ripple effects across both the Android and iOS platforms, as it is likely Word Lens will be discontinued in the near future in favor of incorporating the technology into Google's own Translate app. For now, however, Quest Visual has made all Word Lens language packs available for free in celebration of their new deal with Goo...
News: Shopify Rings Up AR Shopping for the Web via AR Quick Look on ARKit 2.0
Online shopping giant Shopify literally cannot wait for ARKit 2.0 to arrive via iOS 12 this fall to implement its latest augmented reality feature.
How To: Change the Color of an Object Before Taking the Photo with Your HTC One
Aside from the most basic functions, most of us are pretty useless when it comes to Photoshop. Yes, we can all add filters, but who wants to see everything in black-and-white or sepia? Why not change a sunflower blue, your hair pink, or your lips purple—without having to spend hours with editing software.
Apple AR: Take a Walk on the Moon with New Space Door Demo
The latest portal demo made with Apple's ARKit is one small step for man, one giant leap for augmented reality. That's right, the latest demo allows you to venture through a door onto a moon from wherever you are.
News: 3D Scanning App for iPhone Makes Capturing & Sharing AR Content as Easy as Taking a Picture
Augmented reality app developer Laan Labs has shared a preview of a beta app that achieves 3D scanning with just an iPhone and produces highly-detailed models for sharing with others.
News: Now You Can Drive Elon Musk's Tesla Cybertruck in AR from the Comfort of Your Home via iOS & Android
What do you do when your favorite new car is still two years away from hitting the road? Look to augmented reality, of course.
News: Apple iPhone X App Lets You Wear Your Friend's Face Like a Mask & Put Words in Their Mouth
On Wednesday, Apple released a new batch of Animoji characters that gives iPhone X users more virtual masks to play around with, but what many have been waiting for is an app that lets you put on a virtual mask of another person, not an animated emoji. Well, that day has finally arrived.