Universal Everything’s new app lets you transform a friend using AR

Universal Everything (UE), the creative studio founded by Matt Pyke which comprises a remote-working collective of digital artists, experience designers and “future makers” has released an iOS app called Super You. Described by the studio as “costume arts experiment”, it utilises AR, allowing users to transform a friend into one of the studio’s distinctive characters.

There are 11 costumes to choose from, with each sampling a colour from the clothes you are wearing. Then, using the latest in body tracking technology (ARKit 3), Super You tracks whoever you train the camera on – “taking a walk in the park, dancing in the kitchen or relaxing on the sofa.” Because of this, UE suggests you wear colourful clothing when trying out Super You, as well as shooting in several locations, indoors and outdoors.

Bringing a human touch into technology in this way is something UE has always been interested in, and at the forefront of, for several years now. It’s something we discussed with Pyke in an interview back in January of this year. He described how creating human forms such as those that feature in Super You is one way that UE is able to facilitate connection with a medium which is so often thought of as cold or inhuman. “It’s not just abstract – a moving image or abstract technology – it’s technology that has a soul in it,” he said. “If you can see the person or the people or the crowd in the work, any member of the public can perceive the humanity in it.”

The project has been released as part of UE’s Future Human art series and is available to download for free now.