AR GROUP EFFECT EXPERIENCES
CLIENT
META
[Messenger, Instagram, Portal]
TYPE
AR Games, Multipeer,
Group Calls, Spark AR
AGENCY
MEDIA.MONKS
META developed a Multi-participant APIs and Group Effects that enhance real-time social interactions between people during video calls.
We launched a series of casual games and call effects that are now available on Messenger, Instagram and Portal.
With Group Effects, users can play multiplayer interactions with their friends, making video calls a shared experience. We partnered with Meta on validating Scene Composition and on pushing the product implementation.
We provided concepts for UXR, working with Meta’s team on identifying the problem spaces and understanding the use cases. We helped the team to evolve their vision to inform the Meta engineer teams about new capabilities to unlock.
We create high-fidelity prototypes to test new interaction patterns in products and verify feasibility. We create 1P exemplary effects to illustrate new innovative ways for people to be closer together when physically apart.
CREATIVE DIRECTION
I was responsible for conceiving, designing and overseeing all the projects - from the concepts to the user flow, to the game mechanic and the asset production - managing the creative vision and direction, ensuring that they were aligned with the overall business goals and expectations of the Meta team.
As a Certified Spark Creator myself, I’ve been deeply involved in the production process as well. I was also responsible for setting up and defining a creative process and pipeline that was then applied to all the different projects.
CASUAL GAMES
As part of the Social AR program, we helped the team explore casual game concepts with the goal of fostering a stronger sense of community among video call users. Our objective was to replicate the experience of a real-life hangout in a digital setting. To achieve this, we designed shared virtual environments and provided fun, collaborative activities for users. The aim was to evaluate the product's market fit and refine Meta's offering.
MAZE OF MYSTERY
& PLATFORM PLUNGE
We have been asked to conceive and build a fully immersive group game where the users play together to find their way out of a maze so we came out with the idea of a haunted house where the people in the call should play together to find their way out. Only one person at a time can control where to go with the intention to push all users in the call to discuss the best direction together. The maze is different every time the game restarts, to invite the users to play multiple times. The house is haunted by ghosts that players should avoid. They only have 3 attempts otherwise they lose and need to restart from the beginning of the maze.
We wanted to push the horror vibes without being too scary, so the art direction resulted in a mix of modern horror style and cute playful vibes, with a touch of retro look&feel. This game is the most advanced immersive game we have built for the video call platforms with its fully VR environment, character animation, sound effects and post-production.
SNAP'N SNACK & KAWAII SUSHI
We have been asked to conceive and build a game in the space of asymmetrical activities that would entertain and engage people during video calls. The aim was to push the Multipeer API boundaries and to create an example to inspire their community of developers.
We conceived a simple mechanic to make sure that everyone would be able to play with it with ease. In this game, users need to use their noses to direct a funny hungry turtle toward falling leaves and open their mouths to shoot out the turtle's head to catch a leaf.
We aimed for a fresh and appealing art direction that links to the visual language of famous mobile game titles. We explored different concepts and characters to define the one that would have more appeal to the audience.We designed all the elements, modeled and animated the 3D assets, and developed the entire experience.
CHARADES & TRIVIA
This time we've been engaged to transpose two classic games in the space of immersive activities. With the first one - Charades - we have one person in the call who mimics random animals, objects, people, or things, and all the other people must try to guess. With the classic 'Trivia' title, users were asked to compete against their friends to select the right answers to random questions.
The aim of these games was to enhance the conversations and push the callers to challenge each other in a fun way. We decided to create a fresh and vibrant environment to make the games more playful. We added audio FXs to the UI interactions to amplify the immersiveness and appeal.