WPP Stream at SXSW 2018

For nearly two weeks every March, SXSW transforms the city of Austin into a sprawling celebration of music, film, and technology. And every year during the festival, WPP hosts Stream SXSW; a party where marketers and technologists gather to sip cocktails and share ideas away from the hustle and bustle of the festival.

This year, WPP invited our team to add a new dimension of fun to the party using the magic of AR. Our goal for the event was two-fold. We wanted to create an experience that would be flat-out fun and would demonstrate the potential of Augmented Reality as a marketing tool for brands. So, we designed two interactive experiences for partygoers to enjoy: an AR photo booth and custom Snapchat Lens coasters.

AR Photo Booth

Traditional photo booths are a tried and true classic. A place where people gather together, try on ridiculous props, and (for better or worse) capture memories that last long after the night is over. Wanting to put a new twist on the old favorite, we partnered with AMD to engineer a custom Augmented Reality photo booth using the shell of a vintage slot machine and top of the line AMD hardware.

Powered by an AMD Radeon Pro WX7100 graphics card and a Ryzen 7 1800X processor (products designed specifically for VR and immersive computing) the AR photo booth took attendees' photos to a whole new level. With every pull of the lever, the booth used facial recognition technology to place AR props on partygoers' faces, applied a fun frame, and automatically posted the photo to Facebook. From wizard hats and bat ears to pirate patches and clown wigs, the AR photo booth featured over 90 custom AR effects designed by our in-house team of 3D artists and engineers.

Custom Snapchat Coasters

In addition to the photo booth, we also created custom coasters with scannable Snap Codes.

With the recent launch of Snapchat Lens Studio, brands and agencies can now to create custom Snapchat effects to reach their audiences in a fresh new way. So, to give Stream attendees a taste of this powerful new marketing tool, we designed four custom Snapchat Lenses, which we printed on coasters especially for the event. Throughout the day, partygoers scanned the coasters with their mobile phones to unlock the AR effects.

Our team created four animated lenses for the event included a swimming sea monster, a dancing soda bottle, and a flying Delorian.

AR for Marketing

AR experiences like these are an effective new way for brands to engage their audiences in a compelling new way. Unlike traditional advertising, AR experiences are fun. Users not only actively engage with them, they seek them out and share them with their friends. If you're interested in exploring what AR can do for your brand, we're here to help.