ZapWorks takes mobile AR and VR creation to the masses

Zappar has built augmented reality and virtual reality tools that make it easy for people to create mobile content for these emerging forms of media.

The ZapWorks tools are on display at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, California. Zappar wants to lower the bar when it comes to what you need to create for AR and VR. It wants to enable “digital creatives” to make “snackable and immersive” experiences.

ZapWorks has been in development for more than five years. The company built it to meet its own need for powerful AR creation tools, as it created attention-grabbing AR campaigns for partners like Rovio for Angry Birds, Coca-Cola, Pez, and Warner Bros.

“Worldwide, we’ve made thousands of bite-sized AR experiences for hundreds of brands over the past five years, using our proprietary authoring tools to help partners engage with their audience on mobile and sell more product,” said Caspar Thykier, cofounder and CEO of Zappar, in a statement. “Instead of keeping the tools to ourselves, and in line with our mission to truly democratize AR for the first time, we’re setting the full suite loose through ZapWorks—reimagining what’s possible on the mobile canvas as we begin to not only look at our phone screens, but see through them. We’re delighted to announce that with ZapWorks, those experiences can now extend beyond AR to creating short form VR content as well. This is a game-changer.”

Key ZapWorks features include a way to gather analytics. The basic version is $45 a month. That allows users to manage codes and use the a couple of the tools.

The pro version is $135 per month, with access to the entire suite, including ZapWorks Studio, which allows users to build more advanced AR and VR experiences.

“ZapWorks was used to create the fantastic AR experiences on our dispensers tied to the Angry Birds Action! game,” said Gabriele Hofinger, head of marketing at PEZ International, in statement. “We pride ourselves on being the pioneer of interactive candy, so it’s a natural next step to move into AR and add another layer of interactivity for our customers. What Zappar is doing with these tools will really bring this tech to bear in the marketplace.”