Systems and methods directed to augmented reality environments on mobile devices having a single camera are disclosed. The single camera of the mobile device captures the images of one or more markers, and based on the relative size of the markers, determines the position of the camera and the absolute distance relative to the markers. The mobile device establishes a zero parallax plane set at the bottom of the 3D virtual object superimposed on the physical marker. Reduced alignment errors occur between the lower end of the virtual object and the real-world markers, and the virtual object appears to be standing on the real-world object. As a result, the augmented reality stereo experience for the user is more comfortable as the display is matched between virtual objects and the real objects to make the overall scene more realistic.