Google Brings Augmented Reality Stickers to Android Smartphones - Accessible Through Motion Stills App

Google has announced that it is now bringing augmented reality stickers support to the Motion Stills app and yes, it’s powered by ARCore. This signifies that practically every Android smartphone which has a gyroscope and an accelerometer (which is pretty much every one of them) will get it.

Motion Stills App in new AR Mode
The new AR stickers feature is accessible through the Motion Stills App new AR mode. Just to understand how it works, it uses a smartphone's gyroscope and accelerometer to stick a virtual object on a flat surface and make it appear like it's actually a part of the real-world environment.
According to Google, AR mode is powered by instant motion tracking, a six degree of freedom tracking system built upon the technology that powers Motion Text in Motion Stills iOS and the privacy blur on YouTube to accurately track static and moving objects. Google has refined and enhanced this technology to enable fun AR experiences that can run on any Android device with a gyroscope.

What Is AR Stickers?
AR Stickers lets users add objects to their pictures and videos via the camera app. In this case, the first selection consists of Star Wars and Stranger Things characters.
Referred to as "The Last Jedi AR Stickers," Pixel and Pixel 2 owners can spice things up with a slew of Star Wars cartoonish stormtroopers, AT-AT walkers, R2-D2, BB-8, and even porgs. Meanwhile, there's all the kids from Stranger Things, like Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, and Eleven. Of course, the Demogorgon is also included in the mix.

Presumably, these two themes are made to get more users in on AR Stickers, but that's not all in store. Google has a couple of generic objects, from a coffee mug and a donut to an ice cream cone and a burning chili pepper. Google is also working with AR in field of Aeronautics, Healthcare, Research and much more.

More Advanced AR Stickers
Google has rolled out AR stickers earlier as well. Back in December 2017, the Mountain View Tech Leader released a sticker pack themed after Star Wars and Stranger Things, allowing Pixel 2 owners to add characters from the shows such as R2-D2, BB-8, and the Demogorgon to their photos and videos.
That said, Google also recently announced that winter sports AR Stickers are making their way to Pixel 2 devices, coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics. This announcement was made when it enabled Pixel Visual Core support, the company's image processing unit under the hoods of Pixel 2 units, for third-party apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.

How To Use AR Stickers?
AR Stickers is limited to only the Pixel and Pixel 2. Needless to say, the XL versions are part of the deal too.That's just the start. Users also need to be running on Android 8.1 Oreo, which began to trickle out to Nexus and Pixel devices sometime during the first week of December 2017. Very soon, the smartphones with AR Stickers support, going to increase.

Compared with the AR capabilities of Motion Stills, AR Stickers has far more sophistication and finesse. At the heart of AR Stickers, the app takes advantage of Google's ARCore, which is the company's second dedicated platform for the technology after Project Tango.
However, it's worth pointing out that the Motion Stills app can pretty much offer the same results, i.e., display a virtual object and make it appear like it's practically there in real life.
Google believes in the power of Augmented Reality and has increasing focus on providing improved end-user experience. Google is working with manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, LG, ASUS and other major smartphone makers for quality and performance related testing. The company‘s aim is to have the technology accessible to more people. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, AR is a revolutionary piece of mobile technology. This is an interesting space to watch on how it transforms virtual world into a living reality.