Guide
Augmented reality has quietly become one of the most interesting places in contemporary art — a layer of animation, sound, and motion that lives on top of a physical painting, print, or space. I've been working in AR since 2011, and this is the short list of apps I trust and recommend, whether you want to experience augmented reality art or make your own.
An augmented reality application uses your phone camera to layer digital content onto the real world. In an art context, that usually means one of three things: an artist's painting comes alive when you point your phone at it, a virtual sculpture appears in your living room, or a filter transforms your face or environment into part of an artwork.
The apps below are the ones actually used by working artists, galleries, and collectors in 2026 — not a list of every AR SDK on the market.
Best for: Artists layering animation, sound, and motion directly onto physical paintings, prints, or murals.
The app I use for every piece in my own practice. Point your phone at a canvas and a second, animated dimension opens on top of the physical surface.
Visit Artivive →Best for: Collectors and audiences who want museum-grade AR works from artists like KAWS, Marina Abramović, and Olafur Eliasson.
A curated storefront for high-end AR artworks placed in your own space. The closest thing to owning a limited-edition digital sculpture.
Visit Acute Art →Best for: Designers and studios prototyping interactive AR scenes from Photoshop and Illustrator files.
Free, deeply integrated with Creative Cloud, and the fastest way to move a static illustration into a triggered AR experience.
Visit Adobe Aero →Best for: Artists who want their work to travel — worn as filters, shared as reels, and discovered inside Snapchat.
The broadest reach of any tool on this list. Great for launch moments, exhibition openings, and turning a series into a shareable lens.
Visit Snap Lens Studio →Best for: Artists building AR effects designed to live inside Instagram Stories and Reels.
Note that Meta is winding parts of Spark down for third-party creators — check current status before committing a project to it.
Visit Meta Spark →Best for: Galleries and campaigns that want AR to open straight from a QR code, no download required.
Powers many high-profile brand and museum activations. Ideal when friction — 'install this app first' — would kill the experience.
Visit 8th Wall →Every piece in my portfolio is a physical painting — usually on brushed metal or perspex — with a hidden AR layer built in Artivive. Point a phone at the canvas and the painting starts to move, breathe, and sound. If you want to see this in action, the fastest way is to download Artivive and open one of the series pages.
More on the practice on the about page, or reach me directly via contact.