Unlike virtual reality, which places the viewer inside a completely digital environment, AR works with the physical world. It can reveal hidden layers of an artwork, tell the story behind a location, demonstrate a product, or transform a familiar space into something unexpected.
What Can AR Be Used For?
AR can create a bridge between physical objects and digital experiences.
An artist might animate characters within a mural or add an audio narrative that visitors can discover through their phones. A city could create an interactive public-art route connecting installations throughout a neighbourhood. Museums and cultural organizations can use AR to provide historical context, translations, reconstructions, or artist commentary without adding permanent signage.
For brands, AR can turn packaging, print advertising, transit shelters, event displays, and other promotional materials into experiences people can explore and share. Instead of simply seeing an advertisement, the audience can interact with it.
There are two common ways to connect AR content to the physical world: marker tracking and world placement.
Marker Tracking
Marker tracking uses a recognizable image as the starting point for an AR experience. The marker might be a mural, poster, illustration, logo, product label, or printed sign.
When the camera recognizes the image, digital content can appear in relation to it. A painted figure might begin moving, a portal could open within a poster, or three-dimensional elements might extend beyond the edges of an artwork.
The marker does not usually need to look like a traditional QR code. In many cases, the artwork or design itself becomes the marker. A QR code may still be placed nearby to help visitors open the experience, but the visual content is what the AR system follows.
Marker tracking is particularly effective when the experience needs to align precisely with an existing physical image.
World Placement
World placement allows digital objects to appear within the surrounding environment without being attached to a specific image.
The device uses its camera and motion sensors to understand surfaces and movement. Visitors can then place a sculpture on the ground, open a portal in a public plaza, or explore an installation that appears to occupy the space around them.
This approach offers greater freedom and can create experiences that feel more like part of the environment. It is well suited to public spaces, festivals, outdoor installations, product demonstrations, and location-based storytelling.
Marker tracking and world placement can also be combined. A mural might begin the experience, while additional objects appear throughout the space around it.
Browser-Based or App-Based AR?
Browser-based AR—often called WebAR—opens through a web link or QR code. Visitors do not need to install an app, making it ideal for public art, events, advertising, and short-term campaigns. Removing the installation step helps people enter the experience quickly while they are already standing in front of the artwork or display.
The trade-off is that browser-based AR may have more limited access to advanced device features and may not offer the same level of performance as a dedicated application.
App-based AR requires the visitor to download an application. This creates an additional step, but it can support more complex graphics, deeper interactions, longer experiences, offline content, and features that need greater access to the device.
An app often makes sense when AR is part of a larger platform, exhibition, product, or recurring program. Browser-based AR is usually the stronger choice when immediate and convenient access is the priority.
Choosing the Right Approach
The right AR solution depends on the audience, location, artwork, campaign goals, and desired level of interaction. The technology should support the idea—not get in its way.
Whether the goal is to bring a mural to life, add a digital layer to a public space, or create a more memorable brand activation, AR can transform something people look at into something they experience.