Online travel agency Travelocity® is launching its first augmented reality (AR) experience, allowing users to snap travel photos and videos with the brand’s popular spokesperson, The Roaming Gnome. The travel icon appears on-demand in 3D anywhere around the globe thanks to a new AR camera feature available in the Travelocity mobile app.

The AR feature gamifies an experience everyone can relate to: taking vacation photos. Research shows that 60 percent of travelers and 97 percent of millennials share photos on social media while traveling. Users of the Travelocity mobile app simply point their camera phone toward the floor or flat surface and tap once to place The Roaming Gnome in a picture or video. Optional weather filters, 3D props, sound effects, geotags, and photo frames add an element of fun as travelers create and share memorable vacation photos and videos.

The AR experience operates with or without a Wi-Fi connection or cellular data access. Users of the app can save and share Roaming Gnome photos and videos to their phones or favorite social applications.

Travelocity is one of the many Expedia Group brands experimenting with new technologies. The AR feature launches on the heels of two travel tech developments from Brand Expedia earlier this month, including a voice-enabled action for the Google Assistant and second VR experience from ExpediaLabs.

Krista McDougal, General Manager for Travelocity brand, says the AR experience arrives just in time for travelers to try the experience ahead of the busy holiday travel season.

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“At Expedia Group, we continue to experiment with mixed reality as a way to engage and inspire travelers beyond our points of sale. The Travelocity AR feature allows our customers to have fun with the brand throughout their travel journey, and we look forward to seeing how travelers engage with the experience and share it with friends and family.”

The Roaming Gnome has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter and nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram. The brand is hosting a sweepstakes on @Travelocity and @RoamingGnome Instagram to encourage users of the mobile app to try the AR experience. Travelers who share photos and videos of The Roaming Gnome from the mobile app with the hashtags #RoamLocal and #Sweepstakes through November 18 will be entered into a drawing for a five-night stay at Live Aqua Resorts in Cancun, Mexico.