• by Sara Guaglione , September 17, 2020

The New York Times is partnering with Facebook to co-develop a series of AR features on Instagram, adding interactivity to the Times’ reporting.

The multi-year collaboration kicks off with filters and effects, based on the centennial of women’s suffrage, air quality during lockdown and coverage of the California wildfires. 

They will be available on the @NYTimes Instagram account profile page, under the effects tab, and throughout the Times' digital and print products.

On September 20, readers can launch the AR effect by holding their smartphone camera over a QR code featured in the Sunday paper.

This is the Times’ first long-term effort in producing sharable AR-first journalism on Instagram, according to the company.

The publisher is launching a new AR Lab, with more than a dozen employees, and a dedicated newsroom team to develop the AR effects.

The Times will have full control over the design and content of the AR features.

Facebook will provide financial and technical support. The Times team will work with Facebook’s Spark AR, a platform for creators.

The New York Times launched its first AR initiative in 2018 on its native app.