If you've ever wanted to hide something in a recording in the most blatant way possible or make your autumn photoshoot look like they took place in Minecraft through the use of AR then you're in luck. A new app called VoxelizeAR accomplishes all of those things. The app was recently released by developer Rare Realities, which specializes in augmented reality software.
The other offerings on the Apple App Store by Rare Realities stretch from the inspired WatAR photo editor, which allows you to make the world appear it is melting, to the bizarre Face Drop which allows users to place a 3D selfie of themselves in the real world. Augmented reality has been a great way to change how users interact with the world around them and has been an increasingly popular feature for smartphone software ever since Niantic utilized it to great success in Pokemon Go.
With Voxelize AR the user highlights areas of the world they want to pixelate or, as the app calls them, voxels, that float about the user's world. You paint across the screen to make a pixelated landscape based on your surroundings. The colors of the voxels change in real-time meaning that a sudden change in lighting will do little to hamper your photoshoot. You can even change the size of the voxels allowing you to go from a pixelated chic photoshoot to a straight-up Minecraft-like experience.
Add AR To Spice Up Photoshoots
After you install the app you need to give it permission to capture a photo or video. After that, you have to move your camera around the area you want to pixelate so that the app can register what is a flat surface. Next, you select the size of the voxels from a small pixelation effect or a large clunky cubic experience. Next, you color in the areas you want cubes and then ultimately take your picture. It's an intuitive user experience and isn't complicated.
Two things ultimately work against this application, however. Firstly, it is tricky to scan an entire wide area leading the user to just pixelate a small portion of their surroundings, which is fine for a photo capture but is a struggle for video content. Secondly, if you want to use the app to censor videos you cant use content already produced — you have to record footage through this app. However, if you're using the app to censor surroundings such as offensive street art then the application works as advertised. VoxelizeAR is available on the Apple App Store for free.