MAMA AFRICA

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Inspiration

My inspiration for creating this Snap AR lens came from a deep appreciation for African culture and its vibrant fashion traditions. I wanted to digitize African fashion, celebrate the beauty of African headpieces and earrings, and make them accessible in a modern, interactive way through augmented reality. I pictured a lens capable of connecting global users to African traditions, something that reconnects Africans in Diaspora to their roots, a Snap AR lens to appreciate the beauty of our culture and thought to add a little game element to the scene. The idea was to blend cultural heritage with cutting-edge technology, allowing users worldwide to experience and engage with African fashion in a fun and immersive way without spending a dime to look good.

What it does

This Snap AR Lens transforms the user’s experience by serving as an immersive digital mirror that celebrates the vibrant essence of African fashion. Designed to showcase the cultural richness of African accessories, the lens adorns users with a carefully crafted 3D Nigerian headgear, known as GELE, a simple HEAD WRAP and a striking, African-inspired dangling EARRING. Users can switch between the GELE and the simple HEAD WRAP by tapping the Gele icon then apply customizable colors (by tapping on the COLOUR WHEEL icon) to the GELE or HEAD WRAP to complement their outfit. The Gele, a traditional headwrap renowned for its elegance and folds, is rendered with vibrant colors as well as the simple Head wrap while the earring features dynamic movement to mimic its natural sway. The lens seamlessly places these accessories on the user, adapting to various face shapes and lighting conditions for a realistic and flattering effect. This AR experience not only enhances the user’s appearance but also invites them to engage with African heritage in a fun, interactive, and modern way, bridging cultural appreciation with cutting-edge technology. Whether for casual exploration or sharing on social platforms, the lens empowers users to embody the bold and beautiful aesthetic of African fashion.

How we built it

I started by researching African fashion, focusing on iconic headpieces and earrings. I used Blender to model and texture the earring. I used Style3d and Blender to model and texture the headpieces. In Lens Studio, I imported these assets, applied head binding and ear binding to position them accurately on the user’s head, and added chain physics to the earrings to enhance realism. I also added a face retouch and make up for some glam. For the icons, I utilized the Tween Manager in Lens Studio to create subtle animations and the Behavior Script to handle user interactions. After testing multiple times on my device and PC, I iterated based on feedback to improve performance and usability. Finally, I published the lens on Snapchat for public use.

Challenges we ran into

Major challenge faced was rigging the earrings and optimizing the 3D models for AR. I had to reduce polycounts whilst ensuring my models are intact, learn to resolve bone heat weighting on Blender, watch tutorials on how to hide the buttons when recording, how to animate with tween manager and how to leverage snapchats behaviour script to change colours as opposed to using numerous textures. Finally, time constraints during this hackathon pushed me to prioritize tasks efficiently, which was stressful but taught me valuable project management skills.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I’m incredibly proud of successfully creating a Snap AR Lens that authentically celebrates African fashion while delivering a seamless and engaging user experience. One of my proudest accomplishments was seeing the Headpiece fit the 3D Head so well with all folds intact, seeing all animations work as expected and the African-inspired dangling earring responding to physics.

What we learned

Project management skills Rigging in Blender Helper scripts on Lens Studio Animation in Lens Studio

What's next for MAMA AFRICA

Adding a body try on. I plan to enhance and expand the Snap AR Lens to further celebrate African fashion and make the experience even more immersive and inclusive.

Lens Name: MAMA AFRICA

Lens URL: https://www.snapchat.com/lens/ccf8a3b1ef244b0d82f3a0cf2274e2e5?share_id=sDOyP1Y1uGg&locale=en-GB

Lens ID: ffcf56bf-ace9-4e33-9881-7d650d7e3a90

Built With

• blender
• lensstudio
• style3d