While the world continues to battle the pandemic, National Grographic has debuted its second Augmented Reality experience on Instagram. The AR feature takes you on an immersive journey to Mt. Everest with National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition.

Climbing the world’s highest mountain? AR makes it possible!

According to National Geographic, immersive story telling is one of the best ways to engage audiences in complex story telling. AR had been on the horizon for quite some time but now it is available to the masses with the Spark AR platform which is available via Instagram. It does not require any additional hardware or software.

So, how do you climb Mt. Everest with AR?

When you launch the AR interactive, the journey begins near the base of the mountain. It allows you to move your smartphone or swipe the screen for a 360-degree panoramic view of your surroundings. You can even open your mouth to see your breath in AR.

National Geographic lets you see a full-bodied Everest climber and to make the experience more realistic, it’s even responsive to your face and head movements. The filter intensifies as you climb higher up – the weather visibly changes as you move to various locations, the climbing gear changes and you will also get goggles and breathing apparatus. Once you reach the summit, you can also take selfies and record videos and share your IG stories.

The most comprehensive scientific expedition in Augmented Reality

This immersive experience also educates users about the National Geographic Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition. Their team climbed up Mt. Everest and set up five high-altitude weather stations that transmit critical weather information and conditions in real time. During the climb, they also took 360-degree videos of the mountain which is now available to users when they climb it in AR. This expedition was detailed in the July issue of the National Geographic and they then turned it into a fully immersive AR experience.

This is National Geographic’s second immersive content on Instagram – the first one was for Earth Day in April.

You can access the AR experience on your smartphones – here.

Image Credit: https://www.purewow.com/travel/national-geographic-ar-mount-everest-instagram