How To see 3D animals at home with augmented reality and your mobile

Although it has been about a year since Google introduced the possibility of viewing 3D models of objects or animals thanks to its augmented reality platform, formerly known as ARCore, it was not until 2020 when the popularity of this function has skyrocketed, until the point of becoming one of the most entertaining hobbies of many of the families around the world who are isolated at home due to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you’ve been keeping an eye on social media over the past few weeks, you’ve come across dozens of photos of seemingly real animals in living rooms, kitchens, and other parts of the house. But how do you use this function? In this guide, we explain how to achieve this effect and everything you need to do it.

How to see animals in augmented reality with your mobile

First of all, you must bear in mind that, to use this function, you need to have a mobile or tablet compatible with Google’s augmented reality platform, or else you will not be able to find the “See in my space” function that allows show animals in the “real world.”

That said, the steps to follow to be able to see animals in 3D are simple. You only need to carry out this process on your mobile:

1. If you don’t have it yet, install the Google Services for Augmented Reality application from Google Play –the app formerly known as ARCore–.
2. Open Google, either from a web browser or the search engine application itself, and search for the animal you want to see.
3. Tap on the “View in 3D” button that will appear under the animal’s information tab in the first search result.
4. Now the option “View in your space” should appear at the bottom of the screen. Playing.
5. Move your mobile pointing to the ground to allow the application to detect the surface on which it will show the animal. Once detected, the 3D model will appear.

That is all. You can move your mobile and check how the animal stays in the same position or change its position by tapping on the animal, rotating it, or zooming in to change its size. In addition, the application itself offers the possibility of capturing images to share them on social networks later. Each captured image will be saved in your mobile gallery, and you can access them at any time.

On the other hand, although the option to record videos of the animals is not included, you can always resort to one of the many applications to record the screen for Android that exist in Google Play.

All the animals you can see in 3D

Today, the number of 3D models of animals available in Google search is limited to certain species. These are all the animals that you can look for, and that will offer the possibility of “taking them into the real world” using augmented reality.

• Alligator
• Snuff
• Bear
• Cat
• Leopard
• Dog
  • Labrador retriever
  • Bulldog
  • Rottweiler
  • Shetland
• Duck
• Eagle
• Emperor penguin
• giant panda
• Goat
• Sea urchin
• Horse
• Lion
• Macaw
• Octopus
• Raccoon
• Shark
• pony
• Snake
• Tiger
• Turtle
• Wolf

Other things you can see in 3D using augmented reality

Although without a doubt, the possibility of seeing animals is the most curious function within this tool, it is not the only thing that you can “see” through augmented-based 3D models. Some furniture or clothing stores also include this feature so you can see how their products would look on you.

However, Google also offers the possibility of seeing the human skeleton in real size in augmented reality, in addition to astronomical objects such as the different planets of the solar system. You have to look up their names and carry out the same process detailed above…