At this year’s Lens Fest, the annual celebration of our global AR community, we added something entirely new to reward our AR creators: The Lens Fest Awards.
Thanks to the outstanding work from our AR community, Snapchatters play with Lenses more than 6 billion times per day on average.* So, we’re celebrating AR achievements across nine categories including fashion & beauty, environment & social good, gaming, utility and more.
Meet the creators, developers, and artists behind this year’s top AR experiences below!
Best in Art & Expression -- ¡Vendedores, Presente! By: Sallia Goldstein
Sallia Goldstein partnered with Los Angeles based artist Ruben Ochoa as part of our Monumental Perspectives initiative in partnership with LACMA. Together, they created a augmented reality monument that pays homage to the shared history of street vendors in L.A.
Best in Creativity -- Rock Hand By: 2020CV’s Hart Woolery
Hart, a serial entrepreneur and programmer since the age of 12 was inspired by the different ways that people pair art and music. To bring this magic to life through AR, he developed Rock Hand. This Lens nods to nostalgic games such as Rock Band, Guitar Hero and DDR, and reimagines that type of interactive experience in AR paired to modern day tunes.
Best in Originality -- SKIN THIEF By: Denis Rossiev
Ditch the polyjuice potion, Denis Rossiev’s SKIN THIEF Lens brings shape-shifting magic to life through AR! SKIN THIEF leverages body tracking technology to scan, capture and overlay your look onto someone else, allowing Snapchatters to (temporarily) pose as their friends.
Best in Technical Skill -- Jig Kitchen How-To By: JigSpace
JigSpace, an Australia based AR studio, is on a mission to make education more accessible in 3D. Using Snap’s AR technology, JigSpace introduced their Jig Kitchen How-To Lens to help Snapchatters around the world solve everyday at-home problems. Sink clogs be gone!
Best in Utility -- Food Menu By: Brielle Garcia
With Food Menu, Brielle Garcia provides a proof of concept for the menus of tomorrow. Inspired by the recent emergence and ubiquitous use of QR codes at restaurants, Brielle’s Lens demonstrates how augmented reality can further enhance the ordering experience allowing viewers to see a dish in 3D before placing an order. With Food Menu, the days of craning over for a look at what the next table ordered are numbered . . .
Best in Environmental & Social Good -- Bleached Seas By: Helena Papageorgiou
Australia native, Helena Papageorgiou is using AR to start a discourse about a local problem with global implications: coral bleaching. As temperatures rise due to increased Co2 in the atmosphere, coral reefs are suffering. Through Bleached Seas, Helena is teaching audiences about the real-world implications of climate change through interactive AR.
Best in Fashion & Beauty -- OG MetaJacket By: RTFKT STUDIOS
RTFKT Studios, best known for their NFT collabs and Elon Musk’s iconic cybershoes, dropped a new virtual look for Snapchatters around the world. With their OG MetaJacket, Snapchatters can up their virtual fashion game and see first hand how augmented reality unlocks endless possibilities when it comes to virtual fashion design.
Best in Information & Education -- BLACKSOUL GALLERY By: Leighton McDonald
Leighton McDonald’s Blacksoul Gallery celebrates and showcases artistic works from Black emerging artists including Bria Thomas, Juliet Nneka and Dillon ATM, and allows Snapchatters to experience the work out in the world wherever they are, beyond the closed walls of a museum.
Best in Gaming -- Ponk By: Adrian Wolf
From Aiden Wolf, the founder of the first ever AR Creator House, Ponk offers an interactive game for friends to play together. Through this game, which draws inspiration from the principles of ping pong and brick breaker, Aiden is excited to deliver an experience that quickly connects people together.
*Snap Inc. internal data October 1-20, 2021