Google Turns To Augmented Reality To Help With Social Distancing

Last month, Snapchat launched a new lens that used augmented reality to help users get a better idea of how far apart people should stand away from other people with regards to social distancing. The idea is that by standing a certain distance away from others, it reduces the chance of the coronavirus spreading.

If you’re not a Snapchat user but want to have the feature, you might be in luck because Google has since announced something similar of their own. Dubbed Sodar, this uses WebXR to offer up a similar feature, but the best part is that it does not require users to download any app. It can actually be launched in your phone’s browser.

However, we should note that this won’t work with all phones. For starters, it doesn’t work on iOS devices. Secondly, even with Android phones, it won’t work with all of them. There is no compatibility list, but we have come across comments that are suggesting that it doesn’t work for everyone.

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Sodar – use WebXR to help visualise social distancing guidelines in your environment. Using Sodar on supported mobile devices, create an augmented reality two meter radius ring around you. #hacktohelp https://t.co/Bu78QrEN9f pic.twitter.com/kufatNFDQk

— labs.google (@labsdotgoogle) May 28, 2020

Android users might need to have a device that is ARCore compatible, so if your device is, then maybe it could work. In any case, if you want to check it out, just head on over to Google’s Sodar website on your mobile device and take it for a spin.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Augmented Reality (AR), Coronavirus, covid-19, Google