Specifically, with regard to Lens Studio, I often liken it to Photoshop for AR, so do you have any sense as to why we're not seeing even more traditional artists adopting AR? Next Reality: I feel like I've seen more music artists using mobile AR and fewer traditional visual artists taking the leap into mobile AR. But I think at an entry-level, if you want to just put a sprite on your forehead and put some particle effects in, and have some makeup that you want to put on a face, I think that it's a really great tool to get people started thinking in that way because they walk you through it well in lots of tutorials, and the pre-built stuff is easy to understand, for the most part. Some of the more complex stuff requires coding or using their tutorials.

Spencer: I think, having started using Unity, I have a great respect for for how Lens Studio has taken those same tools and kind of molded it into something that everyone can use. Do you think it still requires some of that kind of mental framework in terms of quick, easy AR creation within Lens Studio? Most people didn't have a background in nonlinear editing and advanced programs like Adobe After Effects. Next Reality: Your experience seems unique. I didn't know the program, but I did have a starting point for understanding it. Back then, Lens Studio was intimidating, it wasn't as simple as it is now. Like, here, you can have your own orbs floating in your house. So the first thing I did was I took the 2D image of Oscar as an orb and I put it on a grounded plane that you could move around. And then another one where he was an ice cream cone, and then an orb. So I made all these videos of him kind of just like hovering in different locations. Like you couldn't see his body or legs, just his like his beard and his face. I had this photo of my cat Oscar where he was in front of you sitting. Spencer: Around 2018, I did this video series. I think you said you first started using it in 2018? Next Reality: Talk a bit more about your experience Lens Studio. It's right up your alley.' It probably took me two years of just fiddling with it to finally get the hang of it. And they were like, 'Oh, you work in 3D, you should totally do this. So a few of my friends who I met through doing artwork on Snapchat had transitioned from just doing just art and storytelling on Snapchat to making Lenses. Next Reality: How did you eventually begin to figure out what they were doing behind the scenes to get the AR to work in terms of tracking, etc.

Basically, on the back end, they have a lot better logic and processing. Objects look nicer and attach to the head better. I don't know what they do, but everything just looks nicer and better lit. The materials, the lighting, and the textures in Lens Studio are so much better. I always thought they were really neat, but how they were made was kind of a mystery to me. My first reaction to it was: I wonder what else I could get it to track? Some of the filters worked on one of my cats and that was very exciting. Maybe it was like what that rainbow barfing Lens. Next Reality: Do you remember the first time you saw augmented reality pop up on Snapchat? It was more freeing and less like YouTube, where you have to produce everything. I had a Facebook account, I didn't really post on it, but there was just something about Snapchat's disappearing messages. I actually didn't really like social media all that much. Spencer: I was very used to drawing on my screen on my phone, that's kind of what led to drawing in Snapchat. Were you playing with any other kind of social media? Next Reality: That's around the same time I started dabbling with Snapchat. It wasn't AR or VR, but you know, mobile stuff, using the drawing tools, and some of the other tools to create stories in a different way. In 2014, I started making content on Snapchat. Storytelling is what has driven me throughout my whole career, whether it's industrial design or creating stuff for the internet. I went to school (Massachusetts College of Art and Design) for industrial design, but I also did a lot of video work and audio, as well as a lot of multimedia projects. Next Reality: Where are you from? And what was your first entry into any kind of immersive media, be it VR, AR, mobile AR, whatever.Īudrey Spencer: I'm from the Boston area, 20 minutes outside of Boston. If you're looking to get a peek into one of the most active minds leading the mainstreaming of AR, start here, this is just the first of many such explorations with AR creators. In addition to Spencer's work in smartphone-based AR, she's also currently working with San Francisco-based AR startup Kura Technologies as its lead industrial designer.

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