Radiohead have launched an immersive augmented reality app using the imagery and music from the song Bloom, from their album King of Limbs.

The app, called PolyFauna, was created by design studio Universal Everything, in collaboration with Radiohead and artist Stanley Donwood (who has created Radiohead’s album and poster artwork since 1994).

PolyFauna accesses the device’s existing gyroscope to align the horizon from the real world with the virtual. When users launch the free app, they are met with one of several landscape scenes. Physical movement allows users to look around, and following the ‘red dot’ on screen draws you into different parts of the world. Users can also create life in this virtual world using touch. Tracing a finger along the screen creates a moving spiky forms, described as imagined creatures of the subconscious. The detailed world offers different experiences and encounters every time the app is used.

As Passion Pit’s Gossamer app demonstrated, providing a visual, interactive experience to accompany tracks gives listeners a new level of immersion with their music, but the interactive nature of these apps also allows fans to tailor their own unique experience.