The notion of a metaverse, “a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space,” has long beguiled those of us captivated by augmented reality. Now Snap has been doing the hard work of making this more real, being able to scan & recognize one’s surroundings and impose a “persistent, shared AR world built right on top of your neighborhood.” Check it out:

This experience (presently available on just one street in London, but presumably destined to reach many others) builds on the AR Landmarkers work the company did previously. (As it happens, I think David Salesin—who led Adobe Research for many years—contributed to this effort during his stopover at Snap before joining Google Research.)