The New York Times produces world-class augmented reality journalism. Spatial data, real-scale explainers, interactive visual stories, 3D art, and immersive environments can enhance our readers’ understanding of the world.

Since 2020, R&D has experimented with dozens of these stories in collaboration with the newsroom using Instagram’s Spark AR platform. We tell stories from the sports desk to the climate beat using a range of approaches from detailed photogrammetry reconstructions to cutting-edge motion capture techniques.

Until recently, these effects existed only on The New York Times’ Instagram profile. My team designed and developed an interactive AR effect library to give each effect a more permanent home. The effects are sortable by various tags, and can be opened in the Instagram app on mobile.

Explore the library here.