Creating AR Scenes with Historic Imagery and 3DStreet's Viewer Mode
May 2026 Update: The image hosting step in this post (uploading to GitHub Pages or another web host) is no longer required. 3DStreet now supports built-in custom image upload — drag your panoramic or historic image directly into the editor and it is stored in your account automatically. The rest of the AR workflow below still applies. See the updated docs on adding custom images.
Ever wondered what your neighborhood looked like 100 years ago? With 3DStreet's enhanced AR capabilities and AI tools like World Labs, you can now create immersive augmented reality experiences that let people walk through history. I recently used this workflow to create AR scenes of historic San Francisco for a Green Density walking tour, allowing participants to toggle between past and present views of the same location.
What You'll Create
This tutorial will walk you through the complete process I used to create AR experiences for my Green Density walking tour, where participants could scan QR codes and see how San Francisco's landscape has evolved over time.
By the end of this tutorial, you'll have:
- Transformed historic photos into 360° panoramic scenes using World Labs
- Created geospatially-positioned AR scenes in 3DStreet
- Generated QR codes for easy sharing with tour participants
- Built an engaging community experience that brings history to life