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What is an AR cut-out?
Updated 29 October 2026
An AR cut-out is a person, pet or object cut out of a video or photo and placed life-size into your real surroundings in augmented reality. You see it through a mixed-reality headset's passthrough (such as a Meta Quest) or through a phone or tablet camera, standing on your floor. A cut-out from a video moves and loops; one from a photo stands still. In VR, the same cut-out can stand in a virtual space instead.
How an AR cut-out is made
- Segmentation: AI separates the person from the background, in a photo or in every frame of a video, and keeps the edges clean and steady from frame to frame.
- Placement: the headset or phone finds your floor, and the cut-out is scaled to real size and stood on it.
- Optional depth: AI estimates how far each part of the person is from the camera, so faces, arms and clothes stand out in 3D as you move around them.
CutoutXR does this on your own device: the free Mac app for Meta Quest, and CutoutXR for iPhone and iPad (coming in late 2026). 3D depth is part of CutoutXR Pro for Mac; the free Mac app makes 3D previews.
AR cut-outs compared with other ways to put people in a room
| Approach | What you start from | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 2D AR cut-out | Any ordinary video or photo, including old ones | A flat, life-size figure that turns to face you, moving or still |
| 3D AR cut-out with AI depth | Any ordinary video or photo | A life-size figure with real relief from the front and sides; the back isn't captured |
| Volumetric video | A new recording with many cameras or depth sensors | A full 3D performance you can see from every side, but it can't be made from existing footage |
| 3D scan (photogrammetry or Gaussian splats) | Many photos or a slow video circling a still subject | A detailed 3D model or scene, usually of someone standing still rather than moving |
| Spatial or stereo 3D video | A recording from a stereo camera | A 3D window into the scene, background and all; the person isn't cut out or life-size in your room |
| Background removal for editing | Any video | A transparent or green-screen video for an editor, viewed on a flat screen |
The big advantage of an AR cut-out is that it works with the videos and photos you already have: a wedding dance from years ago, a grandparent's birthday, a coach's demonstration.
Words you'll see
- Passthrough: a headset's cameras show your real room inside the headset, so virtual things appear in it. Also called mixed reality.
- AR, VR and XR: augmented reality adds things to your real view; virtual reality replaces it; XR (extended reality) covers both.
- WebXR: the web standard that lets a browser, such as the Quest Browser, show AR and VR without installing an app.
- Alpha channel: transparency stored in a video file (for example ProRes 4444 or HEVC with alpha), so only the cut-out shows.
- "Hologram": what people often call a life-size AR cut-out. A true hologram is projected into the air; an AR cut-out is seen through a headset or a phone.
What people use AR cut-outs for
- Memories: a first dance, a child's first steps, a grandparent who has passed, standing in the room again.
- Practice: dance, martial arts, golf or fitness moves next to you, slowed down or mirrored.
- Checking form: film yourself and walk around your own life-size cut-out.
- Fun: dolphins leaping out of the living-room floor, a performer on the coffee table.
Questions
Is an AR cut-out a hologram?
Not a true hologram: nothing is projected into the air. You see it through a headset or a phone, standing in your room, which is why people often call it one.
How is an AR cut-out different from volumetric video?
Volumetric video is recorded with many cameras or depth sensors and can be seen from every side, but it has to be filmed specially. An AR cut-out is made from an ordinary video or photo you already have, so it shows the person from the camera's side; AI depth can add relief, but the back isn't captured.
What app makes AR cut-outs from videos and photos?
CutoutXR makes AR cut-outs from ordinary videos and photos. The free Mac app plays them life-size on Meta Quest in passthrough or VR, and CutoutXR for iPhone and iPad (coming in late 2026) shows them through the iPhone or iPad camera. Everything runs on your own device.
More: put a person from a video into Quest passthrough · turn a photo into a life-size AR cut-out