This year’s festivities included augmented reality fashion, star-studded panels, and more.
Best known for its popular messaging app Snapchat, Snap Inc. has made incredible strides in the realm of immersive technology.
Last week, the company held its 2023 Partner Summit in Santa Monica, California, inviting everyone from famous influencers to major corporations to try the latest iterations of its next-gen augmented reality (AR) technology. We were lucky enough to attend Snap’s in-person festivities and sufficeth to say the company has something special on its hands.
Upon entering the historic Barker Hangar, I found myself surrounded by a plethora of activations, including food, entertainment, and, of course, a copious amount of interactive experiences. Some guests were even provided with a 3D-printed model of their personal Bitmoji; a nice touch to an already fantastic event.
Heading deeper into the event space I discovered a range of AR mirrors powered by Snap’s AR Try-On technology. One installation, for instance, allowed me to try on a small catalog of high-end garments from Christian Dior, minus the need for a changing room.
As I stepped in front of the futuristic portal, my real-world outfit was instantly replaced by virtual clothing that moved with my body in real time. I’d be lying if I said the experience didn’t make me feel absolutely fabulous; as did the AR-enabled Coca-Cola machine, which allowed me to compose original music using a series of virtual instruments before rewarding me with a delicious beverage.
After attending a panel featuring Snapchat stars David Dobrik and JoJo Siwa, I had the chance to check out Snap’s Fit Finder, an artificial intelligence (AI) system that offers detailed size recommendations based on a customer’s specific body shape. The process begins by scanning the user, after which they can cycle through a variety of outfits to see how they’d look before purchase.
Trying it out for myself, I was pleasantly surprised by how seamless and engaging the experience felt. After being scanned I was able to “try on” several different sweatshirts before moving to a second station where I entered some simple personal information. The system then detected my ideal size and I was given the physical product, which fits great by the way (thanks Snap).
Before heading to the final keynote featuring Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, I attended an AR-powered art tour led by Sophia Dominguez, director of AR Platform Partnerships at Snap.
As she guided us throughout the event space, we used the Snapchat app to unlock location-based AR activations created by a handful of talented Snap creators. This included a weightlifting jukebox, a colorful icecream cone accompanied by an orbiting sea turtle, and an adorable groundhog-like creature nestled comfortably in a bed of virtual flowers.
“What we realized is where augmented reality really shines is in places where people can come together. And so what Snapchat has been really great at is helping close friends and family connect with one another,” said Sophia while speaking to VRScout.
“And the best way to do that is, usually, in-person doing some sort of activity. So whether that’s going to a concert, shopping together, exploring locations together, going on an art tour together; there’s just something really unique about making augmented reality bring value to people’s lives.”
At the end of the day, Snap Partner Summit 2023 was a big win for the company. In the course of a single afternoon, attendees were exposed to a generous amount of captivating activations that teased the future of consumer shopping and digital fashion.
What started as an anonymous social media app has since expanded into technological empire fueling the next generation of AR technology. The company has even released its own AI chatbot, simply referred to as My AI.
For more information on Snap’s latest happenings, visit snap.com.
Feature Image Credit: VRScout
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