Amazon's new AR app unlocks Halloween fun on your shipping boxes
The free app is available on iOS and Android.
- She received the Renau Writing Scholarship in 2016 from the University of Louisville's communication department.
Amazon is getting spooky with its new AR app.
If you're like me and are terrible about getting rid of shipping boxes, your hoarding tendencies could finally come in handy. Amazon released a new augmented reality app that creates "interactive, shareable" experiences when you use your phone's camera to scan the QR code on the Amazon box. The free app is called Amazon Augmented Reality.
"The activity on our Halloween-themed boxes is a great way to reuse boxes before dropping them in the recycling bin, and they underscore our commitment to sustainability," Vas Obeyesekere, senior industrial designer with Amazon's sustainability team, told CNET in a statement.
Here's a look at what you can do with Amazon Augmented Reality.
The app's screenshots in the App Store show that boxes might offer different activities. Scanning the QR code could make a little AR corgi dog jump out to play, or turn your shipping box into an AR car. There's also an option to color a face on a preprinted white pumpkin, scan it and watch it appear in AR.
Here's a look at what Amazon Augmented Reality can do:
Amazon Augmented Reality is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It's designed to specifically work with Amazon boxes, but you can test the feature (without a box) on Amazon's website.
The boxes have started shipping in the US and will circulate for a limited time, but customers can keep using them past Halloween, according to the company.
This isn't the first time Amazon has tried to get creative with its boxes. The tech giant previously released directions to reuse your boxes by building a cat condo, a rocket ship, a robot costume, a car, a fort or a windmill for mini golf.