Applause

Inspiration

"Applause" is a simple yet original & innovative, content-creation tool. The lens allows the user to build a story in the matter of seconds. My inspiration for this project was to build something that is going to elevate the storytelling of the short vertical content that's available on Spotlight.

What it does

The lens presents a golden trophy that mimics the visible person's facial expressions. This way users all around the globe will be able to see the emotion in great stories. The "trophy presentation" can be started by two different triggers.

How we built it

As mentioned above, the lens features two different triggers for better overall accessibility. Tapping the the device's screen allows for a more precise, manual triggering of the "trophy presentation".

Alternatively, it can be automatically triggered by clapping when in front of the device camera. The clap detection was developed using Lens Studio's new two hand 3D tracking feature. The distance between both hands is recorded and a clap is detected once the distance is less than a certain value.

Once triggered, the lens presents a trophy to the user. The trophy base was created in Blender and further polished in Lens Studio. I really wanted the trophy to be interactive so I used a 3D face mesh to make the trophy mimic the visible person's facial expressions.

Challenges we ran into

While the clapping detection works most of the time, it is not perfect. Quick movements do not work well with hand tracking, and unfortunately claps are exactly that. This was another reason for me to not completely get rid of the tap trigger.

Figuring out a way to detect claps was a bumpy road, but I'm glad I stuck to it & found a way!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I had a clear vision for this project, and it turns out the final product is exactly what I envisioned! The lens allows the users tp amplify the feeling of success in a story by visually awarding them with a golden trophy.

It's a simple lens that doesn't limit a person's creative, but rather expands on it.

What we learned

Figuring out a way to detect hand clapping was relly challenging but rewarding, and I'm really happy with how accurate my method is. I also researched a lot of other storytelling AR experiences and I learned about what stuff usually works and what does not, what can start a trend, and what can't.