When I held up Google’s new Pixel 9 phone to snap a photo, I saw my own reflection in augmented reality, in the same spot I was standing a second before. This digital version of me is positioned right next to the person I’m photographing, as if we were standing side by side in real life.
This is what it’s like to use Google’s new “Add me” feature on the Pixel 9 series. The goal of this tool is to allow you to take group photos even when no one is nearby to take a photo of you. It’s another attempt by Google to make its Pixel phones stand out through clever software features, an approach it’s taken with most of its Pixel lineup.
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Add Me is only available in the camera app on the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and can be a little difficult to get the hang of before actually doing it. First, you take a group photo the way you normally would – by having one member of the group take the photo. But the similarities end there. The photographer then hands the phone to the other person in the photo and stands where the original photo was taken.
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Pixel 9 uses augmented reality to superimpose digital versions of the people in the original photo onto the current scene by using the device’s camera and sensors to place graphics on the phone’s screen into the surrounding environment. This helps the second photographer position the first photographer in a way that looks natural. Google then combined the images to create a photo that included everyone, including the first and second photographers.
Google’s “Add Me” feature makes it look like I’m standing next to the subject of the photo.
I must admit, taking a group photo seems like a hassle. In most cases, if possible, it may be easier and less embarrassing to have someone else take photos of your group. However, I’ve only tried this feature in Google’s demo area, so I’ll need to use it in real-world, everyday scenarios to really know if it helps.
But it’s not unusual for Google to introduce fancy new photography features for its new Pixel phones. Last year, for example, the company launched “Best Take,” which combines multiple consecutive group photos to create a shot in which everyone is smiling. As my colleague Sareena Dayaram wrote last year after the launch of Best Take and Magic Editor, such features could raise questions about the authenticity of photos taken on smartphones.
Regardless, it’s interesting to see augmented reality applied to smartphones in this way. In addition to Snapchat, many well-known AR mobile apps usually fall into the game or utility category, such as Pokémon Go or the digital tape measure app AR Ruler.
I don’t think a feature like “Add me” is enough to sway your decision to buy a Pixel 9. things feel different from each other.
