The mission: create a novel application for the Gear VR platform that utilizes the headset’s unique forward-facing camera. The result? A wild and exciting application that applies Instagram-like filters over real world surroundings, allowing you bend and distort reality while you interact with it in real time!

Cubicle Ninjas designed Filter’s 100+ unique filters, built-in photo capture system, and integrated ability to share content on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. And on top of that, we were able to incorporate interactive motion controls, allowing users to intuitively navigate through the application with a wave of their hand.

A hit app on the Gear VR store, Filter let users experience a new world of image processing and the future of VR user interface.

Like many great ideas, Filter AR was the result of a late-night brainstorming session. We came up with the idea at midnight, and by 2AM we had a fully functioning protoytpe! We then went on to develop hand powered controls using IR, which was much more intuitive than tapping, allowed us to better interpret spacial distances, and made sharing much easier and more enjoyable.

As one of the first consumer Mixed Reality applications ever designed, Filter AR was featured across dozens of news sites. Our favorite was on Vice TV, where a person went ziplining through London using Filter to make the everything look cool and wacky.