Shahnanigans is a creative studio that started in 2019. For over five years, the firm has worked with various brands in developing creative AR advertising on social media platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. According to Founder Shahwali Shayan, Shahnanigans offers creative technology solutions to clients and brands that” want to use marketing in a unique way, want to use storytelling, and narrative building as a part of their marketing campaigns.”
Recently, the firm debuted a BBC-commissioned AR Sign Language Tool, ready for users to understand the method of communication via AR instructions on the smartphone application Snapchat.
This week, Shayan spoke exclusively with XR Today to explain the process of working on Snap platforms, developing the AR experience with the BBC, and Snap’s presence in the XR market.
Snap: Accessible AR-Ready Smartphone Experiences
Shahnanigans is a keen advocate of Snap and its broader ecosystem of to-market and upcoming AR solutions, adding, “I think Lens studios buy for the most sophisticated augmented reality software that we have at the moment.”
Shayan explained
I think, as a user who uses Lens Studio quite a lot, it is one of the most powerful software programs. What you can do with it is unlike anything that you could do with any other sort of augmented reality software.
Shayan noted that other XR content creation platforms, like Unity or Unreal, are great matches if a developer wants to create “complex augmented reality experiences. ” However, regarding “democratised access to augmented reality, Snap have paved the way for how other companies should do it as well,” they also added.
Snap’s Lens Studio also integrates additional emerging technologies, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, into the platform’s development pipelines.
Shayan said:
Snapchat’s business model is also very interesting. We all think of them as a social media company, but they’re a camera-first company. It’s quite fascinating how they’ve used AR to propel themselves to entirely other levels compared to their competitors and also to empower the creators to build their own businesses.
“They give us the tools, they have a community of engineers, and entire teams whose entire job is to support this budding community of creators,” added Shayan.
Creating the BBC-Commissioned AR Service
The Snap Lens was devised to promote a documentary series with Broadcaster Rosalind Ellis, to promote their show ‘Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks‘ and “because she’s part of the deaf community, a big advocate for British sign language, and spreads a lot of awareness, the idea was to use sign language as a focal point,” Shayan expained.
Shayan said:
Because my team and I, here at Shahnanigans, none of us are part of the deaf community. We felt like we needed to bring on a consultant, somebody from the deaf community, to be a part of this project, to make it truly authentic and extremely respectful to the community. If the lens is about British Sign Language, we need to bring someone in who is an expert.
“So we reached out to this organisation called Death Umbrella and they were able to put us in touch with one of their consultants, Lorraine Robinson, a remarkable woman who made this entire experience so much more enjoyable for us,” remarked Shayan.
Shayan also added:
We had quite a few consultations, and it was small things that we could have never thought about because obviously we’re not from the deaf community. It was things like when we had pitched the storyboards to the BBC, we hadn’t even taken into account the fact that British sign language is different for people who are right-handed and people who are left-handed. So this was something Lorraine pointed out to say you guys have not thought about this, and this is something of utmost importance, even before your experience begins.
“This entire process has been truly collaborative,” noted Shayan, who said how Shahnanigans, Lorraine, Deaf umbrella, and the BBC worked together to bring the Snapchat AR experience to life.
Shayan said that despite the project being a marketing and promotional project, the outcome became more about creating an AR experience that has a “life beyond the marketing campaign, and it’s actually a utility tool.”
AR Smart Glasses: The Next Step for Snap
Snap is not a company reserved for the Snapchat platform, as stated. The firm is deeply developing its Specticales AR smart glasses product, which is currently in a developer-access-only stage.
The AR smart glasses shark tank is increasing, with major firms like Google joining back into the race, alongside industry titans like Meta.
So, Snap is under pressure as the market becomes more innovative and competitive. Shayan explained that Snap is “leading that conversation because while they have things like Spectacles, and because it’s still within a developer community and there are not many of them, some of the experiences that they’re creating are absolutely just mind-boggling.”
Shayan added:
The best way that a company can really do this is to hand out [smart glasses] to developers and let them figure out how they want to shape the world of the future.
To view the whole conversation, click here to learn more. Moreover, have thoughts to add? Join the conversation on LinkedIn or Reddit—we’d love to hear your perspective.
If you’d like more like this, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our channel. You can also join in the conversation on our X and LinkedIn pages.
