Just returned from XR Hack Fest 2019 that took place in Taipei. (It’s truly exhausting 😅)
Despite this being our first time participating, we achieved the Creativity Award, much to our pleasant surprise.
What is XR?
X Reality (XR), also known as Cross Reality, allows content creation using virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), cinematic reality (CR). (Quoted from Wiki)
In other words, developers or creators are able to create a “world” or “reality” across the physical and virtual realm via those technologies.
“May the 4th be with you”
The theme of XR Hack Fest this year is homophonic of “May the force be with you”, a reference taken from the famous movie “Star Wars”.
There are two categories to participate in: “Content Creation” and “Industry Application”. Our team joined the latter and with the use of technologies such as AR, VR or MR (sponsored by HTC Vive), we developed a set of tools that is a combination of market promotion and gaming with AR.
Spark AR Studio
Spark AR Studio is a Facebook platform which provides the service of developing AR applications and publishing your creation onto the Facebook camera. If you are a Facebook user and has the experience in using a Facebook camera, then you surely know your way around the filter effects embedded in the camera.
By implementing our idea with Spark AR Studio, we provide an opportunity for users to share this AR application without any hassle onto their social network as well as scan a specific item to complete a “mission”. Moreover, the user can take a picture to collect “evidence” and upload onto his/her instant story on Facebook.
I know this might sound a bit vague and hard to visualize just by reading these instructions. Worry not! Allow me to demonstrate step by step. Shall we begin? 😎
1. Turn on our AR application via clicking the link provided
Take out your phone and click on the link below.
(We strongly recommend to open this link in a mobile browser.)
The link will redirect you to turn on your Facebook camera. (If your account is not signed in previously, it will ask you to login first.)
After turning on your Facebook camera, this is what you will see.
2. Capture XR logo to complete the mission
Scroll this page to the top and capture the XR logo image with your camera.
AND THERE YOU GO!!! Mission accomplished 🎉 🎉 🎉
Now you can either upload onto your story feed or share with your friends to show off your accomplishments!!! 🍻
Of course, you can also add effects or catchy lines to enhance your “masterpiece”.
Other than that…
Capture an image of your friend and he/she will get a lightsaber!!! ⚔️
VOILA! Have your friend play a role in Star Wars!!! 😎
Business opportunity behind this AR Application
As mentioned earlier, this application is a tool that is a combination of both market promotion and gaming. How so?
If you have followed the steps, you may discover some advantages to this application.
- Not an app: users can easily share the link through any social media and obtain an immersive experience immediately by turning on the Facebook camera.
- With the service Facebook provides, many more benefits begin to surface:
- Any Facebook user with a mobile phone is able to enjoy this AR experience without feeling left out.
- With a massive pool of Facebook users, any businessman eager to attract as many potential customers as possible to his or her business can use the application to increase sales.
3. Gaming experience: The concept of this application requires users to physically walk around and explore an area to find certain specific items (in this demo, we use XR logo). In return, you will receive a clue which serves as a piece to a puzzle. After collecting all the pieces and piecing them together, a coupon or a practical day-to-day item is gifted. Before redeeming the items, users need to declare the mission completion onto his or her social network, also in a way to show off his or her accomplishments.
The greatest advantage of AR as compared to VR is that it has no physical boundaries nor the hassle of heavy equipment. Everyone can explore the real world in a new perspective just by holding up their phones.
This marketing strategy provides concrete data collected from AR application users in regards to the number of products sold, the location with the highest sale or the period of time when sales increase. Companies with such data can figure out a pattern in the customers’ spending habits and enhance their own business strategies. We believe this marketing strategy is better and more reliable compared to those which entice Facebook users with discounts or gifts to like and share posts on their walls or groups.
Our team’s experience
It was a 3-day hackathon. After brainstorming, discussing, and technical surveying, we only had less than 2 days left to develop using Spark AR Studio and it was our first time exploring the software. Despite the platform being very handy we still encountered some obstacles while developing and learning on this platform. After having a discussion with one of the judges, who is also a director of a marketing company that uses Spark AR Studio, we found out about the reasons behind why some features were unable to be featured even though they were proven to be feasible.
Only partners of Facebook are white-listed to gain access to the features which the public have limited or no access to.
About XR Hack Fest
It is truly an exhilarating experience to interact with numerous professionals in the area of VR, AR, and MR as well as try out the HTC Vive, truly a piece of cutting-edge technology.
Within 2-day of development and 1-day of demo and presentation, although our product is not as fancy as that made using VR, which creates an immersive experience in a virtual world, we did not give up and persevered through till the last minute.
The judge we conversed with suggested that within the 6-min presentation, the story must be told straight to the point in order to convince the target audience, who are also the judges, to buy into your idea. Do not think of it as a mere presentation but a pitch.
A good pitch can make an ordinary product extraordinary.
For more information regarding Spark AR Studio, you can visit the following:
Or if you are interested to participate in the XR Hack Fest next year, don’t miss out the information on their Facebook page.
Last but not least, if you missed out the hackathon, you are always welcomed to join United XR 2019 Summit on August 28th in Taipei. 🖖
Welcome to comment and discuss! 😆
Your 👏 is my encouragement!
Thank you for your time 😍
