Hong Kong’s AR stamps bring historic architecture to life

The Statue of Liberty is a fine mascot for postage, but it pales in comparison to these next-level architectural stamps from Hong Kong, first shared by Post Crossing. Developed by the city to promote the revitalization of its architectural heritage, the stamps feature illustrations that come to life when you hover over them with your smartphone’s camera.

Hong Kong Post Stamps

With the HKPostStamps App, each stamp animates into a dimensional pop-up that viewers can rotate and explore as if it’s a physical object. The animated renderings look like digital Polly Pocket worlds with architectural detail taken from the illustrations. The augmented reality trick is more than a clever gimmick, though—it allows each stamp to act as its own mini architecture tour. Some of the buildings in the release are Stone Houses Family Garden, a row of vernacular homes built in the 1940s, and the former clubhouse of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.

Viewers can also tap interactive buttons inside the rendering to learn about the building’s history, and the app will display the building’s hours and website, as well as photos. A stamp worth well more than its face value if you ask us.

Watch this video to see how it works.

Via: PostCrossing