How To: Disney Upgrades 'Which Character Am I' Camera Effect with Snapchat AR, ESPN+ & Disney+ Shows

After an Instagram creator created a viral sensation last holiday season with the Which Disney camera effect, Disney followed it up with a Sponsored Lens playing a similar roulette with programming from Hulu.

How To: Morph into a Gecko & Learn About Reptiles with PetSmart's Snapchat AR Lens

I've been steadily making my way through the series Hannibal, which arrived on Netflix in June. I've just now made it to the back half of the third season, which introduces us to a new villain who (spoiler alert) seeks to become the Great Red Dragon.

How To: Scan Your Surroundings with Google Maps Live View to Calibrate Your Location

Google Maps Live View is already one of the more useful examples of augmented reality on smartphones that is available to the average consumer today.

How To: Get Your Favorite Local Business into Pokémon GO

A side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is that small businesses are suffering from forced closures and social distancing, but game developer Niantic has a solution.

How To: Join in the First-Ever Virtual Pokémon GO Fest

With the global COVID-19 pandemic preventing Pokémon GO players from venturing into the real world, developer Niantic has adapted the game for trainers to play in a socially-distanced manner.

How To: Show Your Support for Social Causes with AR Lenses from Snapchat, Instagram & More

For the average consumer, augmented reality is a fun way of dressing up photos and videos for social media. However, AR is also gaining momentum as a medium for storytelling, particularly in sharing powerful messages.

News: Pokémon GO Gaining More Realistic AR & 3D Mapping from Niantic Real World Platform

In 2018, Niantic unveiled its in-development augmented reality cloud platform for smartphones, the Niantic Real World Platform. A demo showed Pikachu and Eevee cavorting in a courtyard, darting in front of and behind potted plants and people's legs as they walked through the scene. This would be the future of Pokémon GO.

How To: Try on the LA Rams' New Uniforms with Snapchat AR

The Los Angeles Rams are the latest NFL franchise to introduce new or modified uniforms for the 2020 season, joining the Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and their neighbors, the Los Angeles Chargers.

How To: The Best Way to Avoid the New AR Mapping Tasks in Pokémon GO

Niantic recently added a new Field Research task type called AR Mapping that challenges players to capture video footage of PokéStop landmarks and upload them. In return, players receive rewards in the form of in-game items.

How To: What the New AR Mapping Task in Pokémon GO Means for the Future of Augmented Reality Gaming

This week, developer Niantic began rolling out a new feature called AR Mapping to Pokémon GO that has bigger implications on the realism of augmented reality in mobile gaming and beyond.

How To: Use Your Phone's Camera as an Augmented Reality Viewfinder to Find Places in Google Maps

Alongside the launch of Android 11, Google added a new feature to Live View, the augmented reality mode for walking navigation in Google Maps, that helps you find friends in AR. But even if you're not trying to meet up with somebody, you can easily access the AR mode and orient yourself to any location.

How To: Deep Fake Yourself into Movie & TV Scenes & Viral GIFs with the Reface App

Deep fakes, the art of leveraging artificial intelligence to insert the likeness and/or voice of people into videos they don't otherwise appear in, typically focus on celebrity parodies or political subterfuge.

How To: Add Personalized Animated Stickers to Your Snapchat Photos & Videos with Cameos

Late last year, Snapchat introduced Cameos, deep fake-ish stickers animated from your own selfies. Now, Cameos have evolved as a sticker option to use in photos and videos captured with the app's camera.

How To: 8 Ways Google Lens Can Help You Be More Productive

I've covered augmented reality apps for about three years now and the most useful mobile app I've encountered over that time is Google Lens.

How To: Use Your Favorite Snapchat AR Lenses on Zoom, Skype, Meet & Other Video Conferencing Apps

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic means that social distancing has become the new normal. It also means that more Americans are using video conferencing to connect with colleagues working from home or friends and family in quarantine because of the new coronavirus.

How To: Test Your Social Distancing Skills from Home with This AR App for Android & iOS

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has practically guaranteed that the virus, along with the phrases "social distancing" and "flattening the curve," will rank among the top search terms of 2020. USA Today combined the phrases in its latest augmented reality experience, which quizzes your knowledge in the best practices of social distancing.

News: Add Some Fun to Your Zoom Video Calls by Changing Your Virtual Background

The coronavirus pandemic has ushered in an unprecedented time in modern history where terms like "social distancing" and "self-quarantine" have pushed their way into the zeitgeist.

How To: Steal Your Friends' Cool Instagram Stories Effects

When watching stories in your Instagram feed, there's a high probability that you'll come across an AR filter that you'll want to try out for yourself. A quick browse and search in the Effect Gallery will bring up nothing in most cases. But all of that unproductive work isn't necessary because there's a faster and simpler way to get the AR effect in Instagram Stories, and it works all of the time.

How To: Create Your Own Augmented Reality Filter for Instagram Stories Using Spark AR on Mac or Windows

There's a new trend on Instagram Stories: People are making viral AR filters where images of popular characters from TV shows, movies, and other mediums shuffle above your head until one sticks. The filters range from Disney and Pokémon characters to Harry Potter and Friends, but you're not limited to just that because you can create your own "which are you?" filter.

How To: Enable ARCore on Any Android Phone

When it comes to augmented reality (AR) on Android, you might be wondering how you can get those cool new games and apps on your unsupported phone. Google has an officially supported device list for its ARCore platform, which usually consists of the more modern devices. You won't find very many older devices on the list for a reason, but that doesn't mean your "old" phone can't use ARCore still.