Augmented reality transforms the real world into a multi-dimensional extension of the digital. This blending of the two worlds can make the everyday suddenly extraordinary, and innovative companies are leveraging this new layer of reality to create experiments on the bleeding edge of science and technology.

1. Grow Trees in AR Using Your Brain

Neurosity, the neurotech company behind brain computing platform, Notion, integrated 8th Wall WebAR with Neurosity SDK to create an experiment that visualizes the depth of a meditative state. In this case, the subject is meditating and her brainwaves are being measured, triggering the WebAR activation of 3D trees sprouting from the ground.

My first 🧠 Brain + AR project. The deeper she meditates, the farther the trees grow. Built with the Neurosity SDK + @the8thwall. pic.twitter.com/PoTcn9O18q

High power in alpha brainwaves correlates with a deep meditation state. The deeper the meditative state she falls into, the farther the trees will grow in front of her.

The AR trees provide a creative way to instantly visualize the progress and depth of the subject’s meditative state in real time within a web browser. According to Neurosity, the entire project took only 45 minutes to complete using our Place Ground project template.

2. An Augmented Reality Game You Control With Your Face

Game development company Petricore created a prototype for an arcade game that is controlled entirely by the player’s mouth. Using 8th Wall’s Face Effects technology and PlayCanvas, Petricore’s prototype identifies points on a user’s face and head to track the playfield to. This is also how the game registers facial movements, including opening and closing of the mouth and controlling the flight of a rocket with your tongue, for instance.

Augmented reality game you control with your face! We just finished it! You can play it right now for free!Link - https://t.co/yk3C4hcclcMade with @playcanvas and @the8thwall | #screenshotsaturday | #indiedev | #gamedev | pic.twitter.com/VMyXZwTjh6

Petricore’s innovative prototype offers a glimpse of how a user’s face and body movements can control a digital experience instead of relying on touch gestures alone, providing insight into increasing the accessibility of videogames and digital content for individuals with restricted mobility.

3. “Hands-On” Remote Training

Ukaton, a hardware start-up that builds programmable SmartShoe insoles, created a solution for users to receive remote assistance on how to assemble an insole. The remote training system combines the Croquetio collaboration platform with Leap Motion hand tracking, Speak Easy peer-to-peer communication, A-Frame and 8th Wall WebAR to create a seamless web-based learning environment.

AR Remote Assistance!By combining @croquetio's collaboration platform, @the8thwall's #WebAR, @ultraleap_devs' hand tracking, & @feross's simple-peer, users can receive hands-on training on the web! @aframevrIncludes speech transcription and voice spatialization. #voicefirst pic.twitter.com/D9Y4XbPqG3

Ukaton’s remote training system not only uses hand tracking to clearly demonstrate assembly instructions, it also includes speech transcription and voice spatialization. For remote working environments, this is about as hands-on as you can get!

4. Turn Yourself Into an AR Avatar

Los Angeles-based digital agency Pretty Big Monster created a web-based AR experiment that transforms users into Memoji-style puppets. Using 8th Wall’s Face Effects, Pretty Big Monster was able to identify landmarks on the face to track the head of a 3D avatars.

The holiday break was a great time to experiment with creating #WebAR #3D Memoji-style puppets using head tracking and facial landmarks via @the8thwall. It came out really well! Can't wait to use what we learned on an upcoming project. #AugmentedReality pic.twitter.com/tcchnCz3b6

The end result is an expressive and realistic 3D emoji version of the individual that can be experienced and shared directly in a web browser.

To quickly kick-start your own web-based AR experiment, clone a sample project from the 8th Wall Project Library. Explore over 40 WebAR sample projects that include features such as Face Effects, World Tracking and Image Targets which can easily integrate with other external libraries and APIs.

Are you working on a WebAR experiment? Drop us a comment below or tweet us @the8thwall to show us! 🧪🔬

4 Mind-Boggling WebAR Experiments That Push the Bounds of Physics and Tech was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The massive reach and frictionless experience you know and love about 8th Wall WebAR just got even better! With the new iOS 14.3 update, which brings camera access to WKWebView, your WebAR experiences now work in all major iOS apps, including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Messenger, LinkedIn, and Chrome — increasing your discovery and reach to the 728 million iPhone users worldwide.

8th Wall Works Wherever the Web Is

8th Wall WebAR already has a massive reach of roughly 2.9 billion Android and iOS devices and has the least amount of friction for users to engage with your augmented reality experience with just a click of a link to access it. While iPhone users were previously well-supported in Safari and in apps like Twitter and Slack, which use SFSafariViewController web views, the latest iOS update now lets you meet your iPhone audience wherever they spend their screen time, in all of their favorite apps.

With iOS 14.3, applications that use WKWebView can now run 8th Wall WebAR experiences. This of course includes the most popular social media apps, but it also means that iPhone users can experience WebAR content within any iOS app or even in the browser of their choice. This update removes even more friction to access AR experiences, allowing users to get directly to the experience no matter where they are with just the tap of a link.

Supercharge Your Discovery in Social Networks

Now that 8th Wall WebAR can be easily accessed within social media platforms, you can boost discoverability of your WebAR content by including a link to it in your page bio, or promoting WebAR experiences with social media advertisements and sponsored content. If you’re posting a story on Instagram or Snapchat from a verified account, you can add a “Swipe Up” link that instantly launches your WebAR experience.

Easily Add AR to Any Existing Native Application

You can now add AR, including World Effects, Face Effects and Image Targets, to your mobile app with 8th Wall. Embed WebAR inside of your mobile app as a link or iFrame and leverage the power and freedom of the web by integrating external APIs (such as analytics) within your WebAR content. Since you can make instant updates to any WebAR project, you will also benefit from faster development cycles and have complete control over the launch schedule of your project.

8th Wall Is Ready to Support iOS 14.3 WKWebView

With 8th Wall’s own release (15.2) we have added support for WKWebView on devices running iOS 14.3 and higher and updated our open-source library XRextras. 8th Wall’s XRExtras library provides modules that handle the most common WebAR application needs, including the load screen, error handling and social link-out flows which direct users to the right place, maximizing accessibility of your WebAR projects from these apps. With the release of 15.2, we have updated XRextras with the necessary changes to our intelligent routing to deliver the right messages to users wherever they are including users who are running iOS 14.3 and accessing apps that make use of WKWebView.

We can’t wait to discover your WebAR experiences in more places! Log in or start a free trial here.

Learn more about these updates in our Documentation.

🙌 A big thank you to our developer community for consistently providing us with helpful insights and critiques on our software. We’re continuing to develop and iterate based on the valuable feedback that you provide us.

8th Wall Now Works Across All Major iOS Apps Including Instagram, Snapchat and More was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and this festive season brands are turning to WebAR powered by 8th Wall to bring the joy, wonder and magic of the holidays to everyone — no matter where they are.

Go on a Holiday-Themed Scavenger Hunt at Westfield Malls Across the USA

Twenty-two Westfield shopping centers across the USA are now the destination of a large-scale, augmented reality holiday-themed scavenger hunt.

By scanning a QR code at participating Westfield locations, The Holiday Hunt takes shoppers on a magical adventure through the mall to uncover 10 virtual Christmas-themed characters including dancing gingerbread people, snowmen, a Santa Claus face filter, a Nutcracker, reindeer and more — each providing the opportunity for a selfie or video recording that can be shared with friends and family. Upon finding all 10 characters, players are awarded with exclusive promotions and offers to redeem at participating shops.

Created by COFFEE Labs, The Holiday Hunt is the world’s first web-based augmented reality (WebAR) scavenger hunt to take over US malls and provides a fun and safe way for shoppers to get into the holiday spirit while browsing for gifts at their favorite shopping centers.

“While this season may look a bit different, we still wanted to create experiences that not only make it fun and festive to shop, but keep health and safety top of mind.” says Anthony Sion, Senior Vice President — New Business Development at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, owner of Westfield shopping centers in the U.S.

Sio continues, “That’s why we joined with COFFEE Labs to develop and execute a virtual Augmented Reality experience at 22 Westfield shopping centers across the U.S. The Holiday Hunt was developed to entertain as well as deliver offers from our retail partners over the holidays in a safe and socially-distant environment.”

Read more about this experience on VRScout.

The Good Crisp Company Spreads Holiday Cheer With a Message From Santa

To help spread some holiday cheer this year, The Good Crisp Company is using augmented reality to turn their canister into a winter wonderland complete with a special message from Santa.

Created by Aircards, the WebAR holiday experience requires no app to download. Instead, customers simply click a link and point their smartphone camera at the The Good Crisp packaging to watch animations of snow swirl around the canister before Santa pops out to deliver his message. Customers can then take a selfie with Santa and send this photo to their friends and family.

“Knowing that Christmas will look, feel and be different this year, we wanted to find a way to spread more cheer through our packaging. This technology is brand new to our consumer, and what better way to launch it than with Santa!” says CEO and co-founder of The Good Crisp Company, Matt Parry.

Grab a canister of crisps and get a message from Santa here.

Read about this experience on AR.Rocks.

Customize a Virtual Bottle of Patrón Tequila and Send It to Friends in AR

Patrón has the perfect gift for you to give this holiday season—a virtual bottle of tequila which you can customize with your own designs and memories. From the Patrón website, create a custom virtual bottle by choosing from a series of templates and adding photos, stickers and personalized messages. Once done, send the link of your customized virtual bottle to family and friends so they can view it in augmented reality.

Created by ROSE, this first-of-its-kind user-generated WebAR experience doesn’t require a bottle of Patrón to participate but if you have one the experience is taken to the next level. Using 8th Wall’s image target technology, you can scan the Patrón Tequila box to watch your customized virtual bottle magically emerge from the packaging.

“This work represents a historic moment not only for PATRÓN but for WebAR as a whole. This experience is the first of its kind for the spirits industry, pairing user-generated content with Web-based AR renderings,” says ROSE founder and CEO Evan Rose.“The cherry on top is that the team brought this idea from concept to reality in such a short time.”

Create and share your own one-of-a-kind PATRÓN virtual bottle here.

Read about this experience on ARPost.

Dior Gifts the World With Its Luminarie-Themed AR Packaging Experience

Just in time for the festive season, Dior is giving everyone a gift this year using the magic and wonder of augmented reality. Leveraging designs and scenes from its 2021 Cruise Show, Dior has released an augmented reality gift box which features ‘luminarie’ and celestial-patterns that come to life right before your eyes.

Created by Atomic Digital, this augmented reality experience was launched across a variety of platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook as well as 8th Wall Web AR.

Unwrap this fairytale festive packaging by opening this link on your smartphone.

Read about this experience on Savoir Flair.

Did you try out some of this week’s holiday-themed WebAR experiences? Drop us a comment below or tweet us @the8thwall to show us! 🎄📸

A Week in WebAR Holiday 2020 Edition–Westfield Malls, The Good Crisp Company, Patrón and Dior was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Augmented reality can bring musicians and actors directly to their fans, to create an authentic and memorable experience akin to an intimate concert venue or a live performance. By transforming themselves into interactive holograms, celebrities are connecting with fans across the globe. Using WebAR powered by 8th Wall, these experiences can be immediately accessed with no app required.

19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red Lets You Ask a Holographic Snoop Dogg Anything

Ask the Doggfather anything and get an answer by scanning a bottle of 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red. Created by augmented reality studio Tactic in collaboration with agency Cashmere, the latest experience from 19 Crimes works in the browser and features a hologram of entertainment icon Snoop Dogg. Simply grab a bottle of Snoop Cali Red and scan it with your smartphone. Ask a question and a hologram Snoop Dogg appears with your answer!

This is the first consumer-facing experience to leverage 8th Wall’s new Curved Image Target technology which makes it possible to activate and track augmented reality using cylindrical image targets.

“Our app-based Snoop Cali Red AR experience performed beyond our wildest dreams, so this time we re-engaged with the 19 Crimes team with the ambition to hit an even wider audience,” says Tactic President Peter Oberdorfer.

“At the same time, we were already blown away by what we were seeing from 8th Wall’s technology. In a way, this was the perfect use case — we knew that both 19 Crimes and Snoop Cali Red had huge augmented reality audiences from the native app, so what better venue to launch to an even wider audience? Alongside the team at Cashmere, we came up with an experience that emulates a Magic 8-Ball, allowing a hologram of Snoop Dogg to respond to a host of questions.”

Grab a bottle and get answers from the Doggfather using this link.

Spotify and POWSTER Show the Future of Album Art With Sam Smith’s “Diamonds”

Watch and interact with Sam Smith as they perform their new single “Diamonds” in a Spotify-first augmented reality experience which showcases the future of album art using WebAR.

Creative agency, POWSTER, used innovative volumetric capture technology from Dimension to bring the vision to life, and is the first to use 8th Wall’s image target augmented reality technology to trigger and track multiple volumetric video captures to create a truly holographic experience. Now with this innovation, fans can be fully immersed in the world of Sam Smith, viewing and interacting with a miniature augmented reality-version of the superstar dancing on their mobile device screen, replacing a traditional music video set with the viewer’s immediate location, whether it be a work desk, kitchen table, or living room.

This breakthrough activation reflects the evolution of album artwork that previously only featured static images and looping videos, encouraging Sam Smith fans to play the song on Spotify and scan the album art to unlock their own personal concert. Once the mobile phone camera scans the Spotify image marker, AR technology initiates an interactive “Diamonds” experience with a miniature dancing Sam Smith hologram. Fans can also interact with the experience by pressing on the screen to release a shower of on-screen diamonds timed to the chorus of the song.

Read about the Sam Smith “Diamonds” WebAR experience on Rolling Stone.

Try the “Diamonds” experience yourself by finding “Diamonds” on Spotify and using this link to bring the album art alive.

EE Brings Rita Ora to Fans With a 5G WebAR Experience

EE, the UK’s leading mobile network and internet service provider, teamed up with Rita Ora and WebXR agency Aircards to surprise fans with Mini AR Rita, a lifelike AR avatar of the singer-songwriter that performs a live-shot concert in your home. The Web AR experience was created as a part of EE’s latest 5G campaign, demonstrating the speed and reliability of the network.

Upon tapping a link, Rita Ora appears in front of you and performs to her hit single ‘Let You Love Me’. At the end of the performance, a button to “Discover the Power of 5G” appears which takes you to learn more on the EE website.

In response to the EE campaign, Rita Ora said:

“As an artist, you’re forever looking at new ways to give back to your fans. Things that get them genuinely excited… Filming the live AR gig over EE 5G was unlike anything I’d done before, and it allowed me to push myself and enter a whole new world of performance. I wanted my fans to be able to experience that for real too, so I hope they love mini AR Rita as much as I do.”

Read about this experience in Mobile Marketing Magazine.

Try the Rita Ora experience here.

Lil’ Yachty Teamed Up With Burger King to Bring the 2020 MTV VMAs Into People’s Homes

Burger King’s iconic mascot and rapper Lil’ Yachty took over the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards with a sea of QR codes which unlocked a virtual performance viewers could watch in their home. Throughout the broadcast, QR codes were displayed for those watching at home to scan to be sent to the BK Fire WebAR experience which featured the duo performing to Lil Yachty’s latest single “Top Down”.

Created by agency COFFEE Labs, the Web AR experience allowed users to interact with the performance by turning up the heat before watching The King award Lil’ Yachty with the Burger Fire Medallion. They were also given the chance to enter to win a series of prizes including a year of free Whoppers along with tickets to the 2021 Video Music Awards.

Read how this dynamic duo took over the 2020 VMAs on Mobile Marketer.

Craig David and KSI Turn Themselves Into Holograms to Perform Their New Single “Really Love”

Craig David and KSI transformed themselves into WebAR holograms to perform their new single “Really Love” for their fans—wherever they are. This exclusive hologram performance was a first of its kind for the duo.

This immersive experience, pioneered by LADbible, was created by Beem, and was made possible in partnership with Proper Loud Music and MBA Live. LADbible, a UK-based social media and entertainment publisher, challenged its Twitter followers to use the Web AR experience to “put KSI and Craig David in the weirdest place possible” to win £100. Twitter users were up for the challenge and delivered.

Recreating the @KSI x @CraigDavid 'Really Love' music video... in my freezer with @ladbible's #KSIhologram.Always knew Craig David was a COOL guy ❄️❄️❄️ (DW I'll vent myself). pic.twitter.com/tF7bzD33D0

What better than a Hedgehogs first concert?? Shadow was very pleased #KSIHOLOGRAM pic.twitter.com/dvt9fCvREE

Read about this holographic performance and watch behind the scenes footage of how it came together here on LADbible.

Did you try out some of these star-studded WebAR experiences? Drop us a comment below or tweet us @the8thwall to show us! 📸

A Week in WebAR–Celebrity Edition: Snoop Dogg, Sam Smith, Rita Ora, Craig David and More was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Vogue Singapore Brings the Catwalk to Your Home, Dior Sends Out a Magical Invite, KHAITE Brings Its SS21 Lookbook Alive and Mulberry Lets You Hold a Virtual Iris Handbag

Augmented Reality has become quite in vogue with fashion brands that are using this technology to bring the runway to your home, help consumers get up-close and personal with clothing and accessories and more. And with 8th Wall WebAR, this can all be made possible with no app required.

The Catwalk Goes Virtual in a Vogue Singapore AR Feature

Singaporean actress Fiona Xie was transformed into a hologram to model one of three fabulous ways to wear a sequined turtleneck. Created by Beem, Vogue Singapore chose WebAR as a new way for Vogue readers to get up close with fashion. By clicking on the 2D image of Fiona Xie wearing a sequin Valentino turtleneck online, readers are sent to the WebAR experience where they are able to place her hologram in their space and watch her come alive to model the look.

👗 Bring the catwalk to your home by trying the experience yourself here.

Dior Uses WebAR to Create a Magical Invite for Its Haute Couture House

For the Autumn-Winter 2020–2021 Haute Couture collection, Atomic Digital Design worked with the Maison Dior to turn its invitations into an immersive experience. The designer brand wanted the WebAR experience to echo the world of enchantment and the same sense of wonder as its real life couture, which is contained in a traveling trunk bearing the emblematic facade of the brand at the House of Dior. Upon scanning the famous facade with your smartphone, the house literally opens its doors to unveil one of the miniature pieces of the collection: the evening coat full of pleats and ruffles.

In addition, for the Cruise 2021 fashion show, Atomic Digital Design used 8th Wall Face Effects to let users try on golden crowns from the collection on the front camera.

Three UK shows the Future of Fashion at London Fashion Week

In a global fashion first, Three UK teamed up with volumetric video leader Dimension to showcase a holographic fashion show at London Fashion Week. Using 5G-powered smartphones, audience members were able to watch a WebAR-enabled hologram of Adwoa Aboah walk down what appeared to be an empty catwalk to model the latest collections at Central Saint Martins. Even more exciting, the real Adwoa was able to watch a volumetric video copy of herself walk down the runway as she sat in the front row.

“Dimension continues to push the boundaries of volumetric production and webAR. This is another incredibly powerful example, delivering 20ft projections of the supermodel at London Fashion Week and integrating captures into 8thWall WebAR,” said Adam Smith, Head of Production at Dimension.

💃 Read more about this futuristic fashion show on the Dimension website.

KHAITE Turns to WebAR for Its Spring/Summer 2021 Lookbook

New York-based fashion label KHAITE used WebAR to preview its Spring-Summer 2021 collection. Lookbook readers scan a QR code found in the physical book to activate the augmented reality experience, which drops 3D versions of KHAITE’s new slingback heels, patent ankle boots, gladiator sandals and other SS21 shoes into the user’s space for them to view from all angles. The same experience, created by agency Rose Digital, was also made available to all online users on the KHAITE website.

“It really feels like you’re handling the shoe in a store,” Catherine Holstein, Founder at KHAITE told Vogue in a feature on KHAITE’s use of WebAR.

👠 Experience the SS21 KHAITE WebAR lookbook yourself here.

📚 Read about KHAITE’s use of WebAR in this feature on Vogue.

Mulberry Lets Shoppers Hold a Virtual Iris Handbag Before Buying the Real Thing

For the launch of Mulberry’s Iris handbag, a WebAR experience was created by M — XR using high quality, realistic 3D renderings of the bag. The experience, which launched at three event locations around the world, was triggered from a custom printed Mulberry beermat which then presented an exact 3D replica of the Iris handbag — with accurate colors, textures, and materials. Users could then customize the product’s handle and body color and was given the option to snap a screenshot and/or buy the bag on mulberry.com.

👛 Read more about this luxury brand experience in this M — XR case study.

Did you try out some of these fashionable WebAR experiences? Drop us a comment below or tweet us @the8thwall to show us! 👗 📸

A Week in WebAR: Fashion Edition — Vogue, Dior, KHAITE, Mulberry and More was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Beginning November 11th through December 2nd, join the 8th Wall team for a weekly Live Learning session every Wednesday at 10am PST for tips, tricks and insights on building with 8th Wall, followed by a live Q&A. During this 45 minute live session you will hear directly from 8th Wall team members who have worked with thousands of AR developers and creatives from around the world.

During the Live Learning session, you will:

• Get live access to 8th Wall team members
• Be able to ask questions and learn from questions being asked by fellow developers
• Watch live walkthroughs of WebAR development

Upcoming 8th Wall Live Learning sessions 🗓️

• November 11 — Sign up
• November 18 — Sign up
• November 25 — Sign up
• December 2 — Sign up

Interested in a particular WebAR topic or have a burning question? Request a topic of discussion for the next Live Learning session in the 8th Wall Developer Community’s #help-and-support channel.

Introducing 8th Wall “Live Learning” Sessions was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Nextdoor’s Treat Map is Back, Ghostbusters Sends Users on a Candy Hunt, McDonald’s Brings Halloween Home and Ricolino Clowns Around

Even though most trick-or-treaters are staying home this year, there’s still lots of spooky fun to be had in augmented reality. Bring the haunt into your house with with these creative Halloween WebAR activations powered by 8th Wall.

Nextdoor’s Treat Map

Nextdoor’s annual Treat Map is back with new features in WebAR! The neighborhood app partnered with Party City to create an interactive map that offers alternatives to trick-or-treating and an original augmented reality experience, so that you can celebrate Halloween safely this year. Simply add your home to the Treat Map and let your neighbors know which lower risk festivities you plan on participating in: Haunted Decor, Pumpkin Projects or a Costume Wave Parade.

Explore the map to see how other locals are celebrating and then go on a nighttime sight-seeing route to see the festive Halloween decorations in your area. Created by agency Seven2, a spooky WebAR experience lets you bring to life “Virtual Visitor” ghouls found on the Treat Map which you can snap a photo of and share to your Nextdoor newsfeed to scare your neighbors. New characters are released throughout the Halloween season, and you can also locate Party City stores on the map to unlock all of the characters while shopping in-store.

🎃 To try the Treat Map tap here (must be logged into Nextdoor).

Ferrara + Ghostbusters’ Haunted Candy Hunt

Ferrara collaborated with Sony Pictures’ Ghostbusters to create a fun WebAR experience that lets families hunt for ghosts (and candy!) from the comfort of their home. Created by agency Trigger, the Haunted Candy Hunt takes players on a Halloween adventure where they can walk around their living room, kitchen and backyard to find classic Ghostbusters ghouls including Slimer, as well as new characters created just for the game.

“While Halloween may look different this year, now more than ever consumers are seeking out new ways to enjoy Halloween traditions and celebrate the season,” said Mariah Havens, Senior Brand Manager of Seasonal Marketing at Ferrara. “This year, we’re thrilled to work with Sony Pictures and the iconic Ghostbusters franchise to offer a virtual spin on the classic neighborhood trick-or-treating experience. This augmented reality game allows fans to hunt for candy, ghosts and more!”

Users can capture the ghosts for a chance to win prizes including the Hasbro™ Ghostbusters Plasma Series and Kenner Series newly-released action figures — as well as a grand prize of a Sony® Home Theater Package, including a 55" Sony 55X900H TV, WS1 Immersive Wearable Speaker, Blu-ray player and PlayStation 4.

👻 Play the Haunted Candy Hunt.

McDonald’s Brings Halloween Home

As a part of their #BringHalloweenHome campaign, McDonald’s Canada created a WebAR experience that brings the trick-or-treat experience directly to Canadian customers. A yellow McDelivery door appears in augmented reality that can be opened by “knocking,” which reveals a virtual Halloween world to explore and has an exclusive McDelivery offer. Users can snap photos while in the experience of their spooky encounter with a vampire.

Created by Canadian-based agency Cossette and produced by Paris-based agency Nedd, McDonald’s #BringHalloweenHome experience will be available to mobile users Oct. 29–31. The McDelivery service itself is available from more than 1,000 restaurants in Canada via Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes and DoorDash.

🦇 Read more about McDonald’s #BringHalloweenHome experience.

A Spooky Adventure with Ricolino Candy

Candy brand Ricolino launched a Halloween WebAR experience that’s activated by scanning a QR code on a poster. Created by agency Inmersys, the experience reveals an animated clown dressed as a vampire in augmented reality who greets the user before diving head first into a mysterious portal.

At the end of the AR experience, the user is invited to download the Ricolino app in order to find out where the clown has disappeared to. The promotion was created by agency Inmersys with the purpose of generating awareness and driving traffic to the candy brand’s app.

A Favorite from Halloween 2019: Jagermeister “Darke Spirit”

This spooky WebAR experience was created by agency WULF Arts, Inc. in collaboration with Foundry512 and Foursquare for Jagermeister. The spirit of bartenders past haunts pubs, lounges and clubs and users who find them (in augmented reality) are prompted to post a screenshot of their ghoulish encounter on social media with #DarkeSpirit for the chance to win one of 16 exclusive Jagermeister Halloween party packs.

🦌 Read more about Jagermeister’s “Darke Spirit” in AdAge.

Did you try out this week’s haunted WebAR experiences? Drop us a comment below or tweet us @the8thwall to show us! 📸 👻

A Week in WebAR: Halloween 2020 Edition | Nextdoor, Ferrara + Ghostbusters, McDonald’s and… was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Nike Virtual View on FinishLine.com Lets You ‘Try On’ Apparel

Nike partnered with volumetric video agency Omnivor to create “Nike Virtual View,” a feature that lets shoppers preview clothing on 3D holograms of models in WebAR while browsing the Finish Line website. Customers can select from XS-XL to see how Nike styles fit on a model that is their size, swipe to rotate, then tap “Shop Now” to purchase with size and fit confidence.

👟 Check out your fit with Nike Virtual View.

LEGO® Harry Potter™ Lets You Cast a Spell to Open a Secret Portal

For the launch of the new LEGO® Harry Potter™ sets, UK-based agency Hoopla Digital created this magical WebAR experience, which uses voice activation technology to initiate augmented reality. Point your phone at your window or wall and upon saying the secret spell a lightning bolt zaps to reveal a hidden portal to a wizarding LEGO world.

⚡Cast your magic spell with the LEGO® Harry Potter™ WebAR experience.

McDonald’s Sweden Replaces Real Balloons with AR to Reduce Waste

As a part of their commitment to reduce single-use plastics, McDonald’s Sweden partnered with Stockholm-based agency DVA to replace all of the real balloons in their restaurants with a new generation of balloons — WebAR balloons, which are even more fun and never end up as litter.

“By replacing our balloons with a digital AR game, we are giving more people the opportunity to have even more fun since the game can be played from anywhere. While at the same time doing something important for our planet,” says Staffan Ekstam, Director of Marketing at McDonald’s Sweden.

Users are challenged to pop as many AR balloons as fast as possible, and since it’s virtual, guests ordering delivery can also join in the fun!

🎈Play the game and see how many balloons you can pop.

Read more: Adobo | Campaign Spotlight: McDonald’s Sweden Replaces All Balloons With AR in Effort to Reduce Single-Use Plastics and Waste

Did you try out this week’s WebAR experiences? Drop us a comment below or tweet us @the8thwall to show us! 📸

A Week in WebAR: Nike, LEGO and McDonald’s Sweden was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We are extremely pleased to announce the launch of 8th Wall Curved Image Targets, providing developers with new tools to bring to life coffee cups, bottles, cans and more using web-based augmented reality (WebAR).

Curved Image Targets expand upon our existing WebAR image target capabilities which previously was designed for flat image targets only. With the rollout of Release 15 of our AR Engine, developers can now create WebAR projects that are activated by and track images wrapped around cylinder- and cone-shaped objects.

Bringing cylindrical and conical image targets to the web was a highly requested feature from our developers in order to meet the massive demand from consumer packaged goods brands looking to use AR to engage their customers with their product, without the friction of downloading an app.

Like all of 8th Wall’s WebAR capabilities, projects created using Curved Image Targets work across iOS and Android devices with an estimated reach of nearly 3 billion smartphones, and can be immediately experienced with the tap of a link or by scanning a QR code.

If you are familiar with developing WebAR projects using our best-in-class flat image targets, you will feel right at home with cylindrical and conical image target development. Upload and manage all image target types in the 8th Wall cloud after logging into your account. Projects can support up to 1,000 image targets and can dynamically swap sets of up to 10 active targets at runtime.

At 8th Wall, we strive to make development of WebAR projects as efficient as possible, so we have designed the curved image target upload flow with this in mind. While developers are free to input exact measurements of the cylinder- and cone-shaped objects their image targets will be wrapped around, we have introduced a slider input option which allows them to visually estimate the shape of their target using the provided 3D simulator. Together with our updated target tester, developers can rapidly prototype without the need for measuring tools or printers.

Developers can configure multiple target regions on the same product and can choose to combine flat and curved image targets to track the sides and the flat top and bottom of a cylindrical or conical target. Combining flat and curved image targets in the same project can enable experiences which interact with a cylindrical- or conical-shaped product, as well as its box-shaped packaging, for example.

We have updated our open source library (XRExtras) with easy-to-use components to help you get started with curved image targets. Bring curved labels to life with video or create a portal-like effect that houses 3D models inside your object. These work by using your uploaded curved image targets to generate custom 3D geometry. The 8th Wall Project Library has also been updated with sample projects that demonstrate how to use these components. You can kick start your project development by cloning these directly into your workspace!

8th Wall’s powerful camera application framework is designed to integrate with other computer vision technologies, external libraries and APIs such as analytics, real-time data feeds and machine learning integrations to create complex and meaningful WebAR projects. In addition, Curved Image Targets can make use of our in-browser video and photo capture and sharing capabilities which can help your project go viral.

So what else can you augment with Curved Image Targets? Well, we challenged our team to come up with a list of objects which go beyond bottles, cups and cans knowing that our AR Engine now supports targets that are curvy and this included things like birthday hats, lampshades, candles, traffic cones, lipstick tubes and posters wrapped around poles.

8th Wall Curved Image Targets are now available at 8thwall.com. Simply log in to get started using the Curved Image Target project templates in the Cloud Editor. New users can sign up for a 14-day free trial of 8th Wall to get access to all of our reality tools.

We can’t wait to see what you create!

🙌 A big thank you to our developer community for consistently providing us with helpful insights and critiques on our software. We’re continuing to develop and iterate based on the valuable feedback that you provide us.

Introducing 8th Wall Curved Image Targets was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Depthkit Cinema software allows you to capture high resolution volumetric videos from anywhere. When paired with 8th Wall, you can create a WebAR experience that works on all devices, no app needed. Here’s how:

Step 1. Capture a volumetric video using Depthkit Cinema

Follow Depthkit’s step-by-step tutorial below and make sure to export as Combined Per Pixel Video which will produce a .txt file and .mp4 file. These files are what you will need for your 8th Wall project.

Step 2. Clone one of these sample projects from 8th Wall

Clone either the A-Frame project or the three.js project to get started. If you don’t already have an 8th Wall account, you’ll be prompted to sign up for a 14-day free trial.

Step 3. Import Depthkit files into 8th Wall

In 8th Wall, open your cloned project then drag and drop the Depthkit files into the Cloud Editor. The .txt file should drop into the capture-data folder and the .mp4 should drop into the assets/captures folder.

Step 4. Reference assets

In your <a-scene>, reference the Depthkit capture name in the capture parameter from within the depthkit component. This assumes your .txt and .mp4 share the same name (i.e. autumn in the example).

Step 5. Test and publish

Once you Save + Build, you can preview your project by scanning the QR code at the top with a smartphone or tablet. If everything looks good, you’re ready to publish.

And just like that, you’ve created your first WebAR hologram using Depthkit Cinema and 8th Wall! 🎉

Share a photo or video of your hologram project on Twitter tagging @the8thwall and @depthkit 📸 We can’t wait to see what you create!

How to Create a WebAR Hologram Project Using Depthkit Cinema was originally published in 8th Wall on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.