The 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' AR experience lets you catch ghosts at home

My dog was deeply unbothered by the little mini Stay Puft Marshmallows jumping all over her.
By Shannon Connellan  on 
Three screenshots of the Ghostbusters AR tested on a dog.
Padfoot, unfazed by Slimer. Credit: Mashable / Sony

Those who valiantly bust ghosts are back again with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and the marketing team is having a little fun making a few otherwordly vagrants available for you to catch at home.

To promote the release of the latest adventure with the only folks you can call if there's something weird and it don't look good, Sony has released a new AR experience that lets you play around with ghost traps at home.

Yes, I gave it a go. No, my dog couldn't give a shit even though she was also being ghost-trapped via AR.

Heading to the Ghostbusters AR experience website, you'll be confronted with a bunch of those dastardly Stay Puft folks entombed in ice cubes and a QR code to scan. It'll then open on your phone, and you’ll need to allow the app to access Motion and Orientation as well as your camera. 

You're instructed to find a good spot for your ghost trap (I picked right next to my sleeping dog's location), then tap the screen to set it, and watch an array of ghosts from the series get frozen and sucked up into the trap. If your pets are somehow in frame, like my wolfhound-cattle dog was, they won't know they're also being iced.

In a neat addition, once you've trapped the ghost, you'll be prompted to "Call" and greeted with a video message from Frozen Empire star Kumail Nanjiani, giving you the praise you crave.

Two mockups of the Ghostbusters AR app showing Frozen Empire star Kumail Nanjiani on a video call.
Literally who you are going to call. Credit: Sony / Mashable

It's all a promo for the upcoming Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which hits cinemas March 29. Set in a rather ice-covered New York City, the film will see the original Ghostbusters (Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Dan Akroyd) back together again, teaming up with the new wave of Ghostbusters from Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Nanjiani, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace).

Go forth, trap ghosts on your dogs.

A black and white image of a person with a long braid and thick framed glasses.
Shannon Connellan

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about everything (but not anything) across entertainment, tech, social good, science, and culture.


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