Augmented reality seems to be everywhere these days — from your Snapchat account to your video and mobile games, and now even your mobile photography!
Here are the best AR experiences and apps available for your photography right now!
Bemo
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If you're looking for an app that lets you truly experiment with AR and your natural surroundings while incorporating photographable, modern characters, designs, and a ton of fun, then it might be worth it to download and play with Bemo!
After you sign up and create your account with the app, you can start creating and placing different AR figured around your surroundings. The app then lets you record or photograph your Augmented reality masterpiece, caption it, and share it across social media or send it to friends and family.
Bemo has a ton of different AR characters and features to choose from: you get everything from animal faces, floating body part emoji (including a butthole that poops on whatever unsuspecting AR victim you see fit and a shaking cow udder for some reason...), stick people with a plethora of emotions, floating pineapples, rock n' roll cotton candy, wine with a moustache and a monocle, crowns, underwear, airplanes, and so, so much more!
- Free - Download Now (opens in new tab)
Giphy World
With Giphy World, the rules are simple:
- Tap an AR GIF to add it to your scene or tap and hold it to draw it in the air
- Show off and share your scene by tapping the share button
- Then you can record a video or share your scene to link a friend into your Augmented reality world
GIPHY World is an augmented reality app that lets you communicate in AR. Just add a few GIFs around you and share. You can record a video of your creation to post on the web or even better, share a link to your scene for your friends to explore! Srsly, go wild. Fill your room with GIF confetti, share a trail of GIFs for a friend to follow, or just draw in the air with dog GIFs - the only limit is your imagination.
Giphy World is unique in the sense that it doesn't only allow you to play with individual AR designs or characters, but rather entire scenes of AR ridiculousness and topical, meme-able, internet-popular nonsense — you get sticker packs like 'You have Got to be Kitten Me' and 'Welcome to the Internet'.
'Nuff said.
- Free - Download Now (opens in new tab)
Holo
If you're looking for an augmented reality platform that steps more towards the realistic then the bizarre and cartoony, then take a peek at Holo — not only is it insanely entertaining, but the hyper-realism of the "holos" (AR drag-and-drops) are pretty dang cool.
Stick a Holo to a surface in the real world. Walk around it as if in the same room. Use two fingers to rotate and scale your holos at the same time. (Holo)
The app works like any other Augmented reality and photography app: pick your character, drop it into existence, let the fun ensue! But with Holo, you don't drop cartoon avocados and floating clowns — you drop real-life animals, superheros, belly dancers, men in gorilla suits dancing with bananas, and so, so much more!
Holo gives you category options like featured characters, popular, animals, and #HoloWeen which gives you some gems like the Bae-badook and dirty boy (... yeah, I'll let your mind fill in the blanks there…)
- Free - Download Now (opens in new tab)
What are your top AR picks?
Is there a particular app you love using that incorporates both photography and Augmented reality?
Let us know what your top picks are in the comments below and we'll be sure to check 'em out!
