Pixi’s new iOS app turns text messages into interactive AR experiences

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Instead of appearing as static media, the characters come to life through the recipient’s iPhone camera, where they can react to their surroundings, interact with people, and respond in real time. While AR isn’t new and shiny anymore — companies like Snap have created AR filters and lenses for years — Pixi believes its approach is different. By combining AR with on-device AI, its characters can understand what’s happening around them and behave accordingly.

A virtual cat, for example, reacts when a real dog walks past. (According to the company, all visual and audio processing remains on the device to preserve user privacy.) Pixi founder Mark Drummond (ex-DreamWorks Animation and ex-Apple) says the app is designed to bring a greater sense of presence and spontaneity to digital conversations. Rather than sending a text to wish someone a happy birthday, users can send characters that create a shared experience, turning a simple message into something closer to a digital gift or playful interaction. You’re sharing tokens of affection, basically cards, e-cards, and gifts.

That’s your dad, or, in some cases, your granddad’s media. We can do something that’s digitally native, and that uses everything we learned about AR on the iPhone.” Earlier this week, Drummond demonstrated the app for us, selecting the cat character, which performed a series of stand-up jokes on his desk. Notably, the cat appeared to respond to Drummond’s facial expressions.

For instance, the experience concluded when he smiled, showcasing the character’s ability to perceive emotional cues. At launch, users will have access to a robot, a cat, and an animated envelope character that can react to their voice and “attack” their friends in a playful way. If they move, the envelope will chase them.

There are also games like tic-tac-toe and whack-a-mole. var playerInstance_jwplayer_6a789333a3691 = jwplayer( "jwplayer_6a789333a3691" ); playerInstance_jwplayer_6a789333a3691.setup(); Image Credits:Pixi Platforms Pixi plans to expand beyond just a few characters. The goal is to create a marketplace where studios, brands, and independent creators can share their unique characters for users to choose from. The company envisions this being used for events like movie premieres or product launches, allowing characters to generate excitement, such as when M&M’s release a new flavor.