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Augmented reality (AR) features have become a hit over the last few years, giving people the chance to experience world famous works of art, play games, or just see how a new piece of furniture might look in the living room. Google Search even has its own AR features now, including one where you can place 3D objects such as animals and even Nasa's Curiosity Rover right onto your desk.
Now Sanrio has joined in on the virtual fun by offering four of its popular characters through the Google Search AR function. With your smartphone, you can now find AR Hello Kitty, Pompompurin, Little Twin Stars and Cogimyun when you search for them in Japanese on Google.
Sanrio says this is an alternative way for fans to meet their favourite characters if they can’t visit the brand’s theme park, Sanrio Puroland. To get the characters, all you have to do is search for the character names in Japanese via Google Search (Hello Kitty and Little Twin Stars will also show up in English):
Hello Kitty (ハローキティ)
Little Twin Stars (リトルツインスターズ)
Pompompurin (ポムポムプリン)
Cogimyun (こぎみゅん)
From the search results, tap 'View in 3D' then hit ‘View in your space’ to project the character into your hand, onto your desk, or wherever you may be. You can also record and take photos of your favourite character as they wave and move about.
Don't forget to turn on your sound – each character will talk when they appear on screen. Only Hello Kitty can speak English, while the others will talk in Japanese and the Little Twin Stars’ theme music will play. The AR characters will be available through Google Search until the end of 2021, so you’ve got plenty of time to play around and check them all out.
If Hello Kitty’s not your cup of tea, some other fun characters available on Google AR currently include Ultraman, Pacman and the drum characters from popular arcade game Taiko no Tatsujin.
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