• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 13, 2023

Verizon’s "Wish on a StAR" campaign launched Monday as a web-based augmented reality (AR) experience in collaboration with Toys for Tots.

The campaign celebrates the holiday season and the release of Disney’s animated musical comedy, “Wish,” in theaters scheduled for release on November 22.

The interactive Wish on a StAR experience — available from November 13 through December 1 — aims to help make holiday wishes come true for underprivileged children in local communities.

Kristin McHugh, senior vice president of marketing and creative at Verizon, believes the heartfelt campaign is a way to brighten the holiday season for children nationwide.

The interactive experience, accessible in English and Spanish, is accessed through a QR code or a direct link on any mobile device.

Participants can scan the night sky using their phone’s camera. A constellation of stars appears, with each star representing a holiday wish of a child.

It works similar to Sky Guide in the Apple App Store, where the user holds the iPhone up to identify the constellations in the sky through the camera.

In Verizon’s Wish on a StAR, users tap on a star though the camera to make a donation directly to their local Toys for Tots chapter. Verizon also makes a monetary donation to Toys for Tots.

Artificial intelligence has overshadowed AR for years, but recently Apple, Google, and Meta have stepped up efforts to make AR a reality in a variety of applications.

Google recently began looking at AR as an advertising medium through services like AR Beauty ads, a smartphone ad that allows brands to promote lip, eye and foundation products through a virtual try-on experience.

The global AR VR software market is expected to climb from $14.5 billion in 2023 to $65 billion by 2033.

The market is projected to expand at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.2% during the coming decade, according to Future Market Insights.