Starbucks is launching a very nice looking augmented reality (AR) app for the holidays. The Starbucks Cup Magic app will let customers animate their coffee cups using their iPhone and Android based smartphones.
People simply point their phone’s camera at specially marked cups and additional objects at retail locations, such as coffee bags, to produce the holiday inspired animations and characters, which they can interact with.
The app has been nicely integrated with social media for sharing and is built around rewarding customers with prizes and promotions. This is another great example of how large companies are adopting AR technology and successfully using it to interact with their customers.