Spider-Man Web AR App Spreads ‘Spider-Verse’ to Augmented Reality

It looks like Spider-Man is slinging webs onto the Web.

It’s becoming a trend now that new releases are followed by some sort of Augmented Reality support. The new Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie is about to hit the theaters, and Sony commissioned a Spider-Man Web AR app to go along. Built on 8^th Wall Web and Amazon’s Sumerian technology, Spider-Verse Web AR app is a completely standalone, web affair.

14 December is agonizingly close, and Sony decided to spice the hype around the new Spider-Man movie. The Spider-Man Web AR app enables the wall-crawling hero to pop up and interact with fans. They can take pictures, share them, and generally call upon their favorite superhero whenever they feel like it. The Web AR Experience is created by 8^th Wall and Trigger, the former being the underdog company who created the first AR Web platform worth its salt. The app is entirely on the Web, meaning that users can access the Spider-Verse on any Web-able device with a camera attached.

Spider-Man is in many ways a suitable hero to make a transition to AR. ‘Not only because his acrobatic moves and iconic poses lend themselves well to the format’, according to Rose Phillips, DM at Sony Pictures Entertainment, ’but because he’s one of the most relatable superheroes’. Moreover, the Web AR Spider-Man app is completely in line with the movie premise. This time we’ll have Spider-Man jumping and webbing across different realities (verses). With the AR app, Sony has added another verse to the Spider-Man universe.

Timing apps of this sort to promote movie and engage fans is most desirable. We have seen something similar with Hotel Transylvania VR book. In words of 8^th Wall CEO, Eric Murphy-Chutorian: ‘The Spider-Verse Web AR Experience demonstrates how established brands can dramatically enrich their customer experience and better engage with their fans’. Indeed, the Spider-Man Web AR app offers a level of interactivity and, dare we say, spontaneity that lends an element of immersive expectancy to the movie.

‘Augmented reality allows consumers to dive deeper into the worlds of their favorite products and characters’, 8^th Wall CEO goes on. Both 8^th Wall and Trigger have created platform that would greatly enrich fans’ experience. Augmented reality in particular have proven useful for adding layers of interactivity to entertainment endeavors. ‘It is the perfect example of how AR for the Web is the best new medium for brands to make their content come to life while increasing the accessibility and interactivity of their stories’, he punctuates.

While 8^th Wall came into the project merited by their platform, Trigger has been making Spider-Man AR experiences since 2014. Talking the new Spider-Man Web AR app, Trigger CEO Jason Yim was excited with the new possibilities. ‘We believe that Web AR is the final barrier for mass adoption of AR and we are honored to be part of the first large-scale web AR campaign’.

Words that may turn out to be prophetic. The next step in AR tech developments takes things online. The collaborative effort from Sony, Amazon, 8^th Wall, and Trigger have delivered a product that will soon be followed by others. Spider-Man Web AR app might be a staple in widespread augmented reality recognition.