We all know that the internet is full of cats. Now thanks to augmented reality (AR) and google’s ‘Playground’ app, even those with allergies or subject to ‘No pets’ rules will be able to see a cute cat scampering around the living room.
AR stickers have become fairly popular in social media, with Snapchat and Facebook both embracing the trend. AR stickers can be just for fun, or can be used for branding and advertising, or for engaging in the perennial debate about which is best – dogs or cats.
Google Playground initially launched with only dogs available under the ‘Pet’ category, but the new update for National Cat Day adds in some feline friends.
Playground is an enhanced and rebranded version of the AR Stickers that has previously been made available as part of the ARCore platform. With the launch of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphones, Google repackages and relaunched it as Google Playground complete with some new starting stickers, including characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the ‘Pet’ category, which until now was limited to canines.
Users can activate an AR Sticker to see cats wander around curiously, pounce on things, give themselves a thorough wash or just laze about, in the way that cats do. The Playground stickers can even interact with each other if they are placed in the same scene.
Thanks to the extended capabilities of ARCore, an AR dog and cat placed in the same scene will gaze curiously at each other before engaging in a friendly greeting, with both animals thankfully being nice to one another.
For now at least, Google Playground capabilities are limited to those who have the latest Google Pixel smartphone, as Google Playground and its cat AR stickers are only available on the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.
For future coverage of developments in AR, keep checking back with VRFocus.
via Mint VR