Today, FirstMark-backed Shopify announced the release of Shopify AR–a new offering that allows merchants using the platform to utilize augmented reality to enhance their businesses.

Augmented reality (AR) has the potential to revolutionize mobile shopping by bringing products to life in front of you through 3D models that you can size up, examine from all angles, and even place in the environment around you.

At Shopify, we’re committed to making the incredible business potential unlocked by augmented reality more accessible for small businesses. That’s why we’ve built a services marketplace to help our merchants create 3D models of their products.

With Apple’s recent announcement of AR Quick Look, we can now enable these 3D models to be viewable in AR directly through the Safari browser on iOS 12 devices—without the need for a separate mobile app or a clunky headset.

Web-powered augmented reality represents an exciting leap toward making AR experiences readily available to the everyday shopper through mobile browsers.

A small group of Shopify merchants have already modeled their products through Shopify AR in anticipation of AR Quick Look. HORNE and Pure Cycles, two businesses in this group, shared their visions with us for the new Shopify AR service and the process of developing detailed 3D models of their products.

Read the full article on Shopify’s blog