HP Live Photo App Lets You View Photos as Augmented Reality Videos

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Still photographs are easy to print and share, but how would you go about sharing a video with someone physically, without having to pass them some kind of tablet computer? HP has a solution: it’s called Live Photo, and is an app that uses augmented reality to view videos “embedded” in printed photographs.

Live Photo basically turns your iPhone into a “portal” into the photograph. Point it at a printed photo that was created with the Live Photo system, and it comes to live on your phone’s screen. After a very brief “loading” message, the image is magically transformed into a moving video.

The app is powered by HP’s augmented reality platform, Aurasma, and is designed to transform how photos and greeting cards are shared and enjoyed.

To create a Live Photo print, you’ll need to choose a video 45-seconds in length or shorter through the app. You’ll then be presented with a grid of stills extracted from the video.

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Choose one, add an optional fun template around the image, and print it out through the app. Live Photo prints have a small blue origami icon that indicates that it has a video hidden “within”.

That print can then be enjoyed as the original video by anyone who has the HP Live Photo app installed on their phone.

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To get started with making and enjoying your own live photos, head on over to the Apple App Store to download the free app. Reviews so far have been quite positive.

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