Instagram Is Testing A Built-In AR 'Background' Effect For Stories

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According to reports, Instagram is testing a new AR ‘background’ feature that lets users change the background for their Stories.

Many apps are relying on AR to allow users to customise their experience in creative ways. Instagram is no different. And now, users may soon be getting another way to customise their Stories with AR, as Instagram is testing a new AR feature that gives them the ability to choose and change the background in their Stories selfies.

The new feature, called “background,” was discovered by Jane Manchun Wong, and gives users the ability to choose an image from their camera roll to use as the background for the Stories camera. The feature works a lot like a green screen, replacing the real background with one chosen by the user.

Instagram is testing built-in AR Background Story Effect
It's like the macOS/iOS Photo Booth and we get to pick our own backdrop from Camera Roll pic.twitter.com/KobB33DJ1r
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) July 26, 2019

According to Wong, it works a lot like “macOS/iOS Photo Booth” which lets you choose a different backdrop to photos from Camera Roll. At the moment, the feature seems to be using static images only, and nothing more complex than that – i.e. there’s no support for a video background, for example. Yet.

Another feature discovery from @wongmjame: AR ‘Background’ feature that lets you use photos from your camera roll as backgrounds in your Instagram Stories.

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We will have to wait and see whether the new feature works as well as it looks from Wong’s screenshots, but also whether Instagram adds more creative capabilities – like using a video as a background instead of just a static photo.