How Can Augmented Reality Bring Festivity During COVID-19 Pandemic
Once a year, large cities in Indonesia see an exodus of people returning to their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with families and local communities. There are close to 90% of Indonesia’s population celebrating the holy Festival of Breaking the Fast annually. This year though, many Indonesians chose to stay home due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Tons of people would be missing celebrating the holy holiday and wouldn’t be able to meet their families, for a good reason to support Indonesia flatten the curve.
So we thought about how can we design an immersive experience and bring a festive celebration to people’s homes. Of course with the mass adoption of video conferencing tools, it’s easy to meet families and local communities virtually (these tools even help set teams to work remotely). A Zoom link, your favourite music streaming platform, and last-mile delivery favourite foods to your family and you’re set to celebrate with your closed ones.
However, we challenged ourselves to explore if there’s an extra layer of excitement that we can add to spice up families and communities Eid al-Fitr remote celebration. We looked into webAR because of its accessibility that only requires mobile web browser & internet connectivity.
We started by looking at the important elements that make up the festivity experience. First, we built 3D characters model complete with traditional attire relevant to the occasion. Say hello to “Bude & Pakde”!
We then identify auditory and visual senses that are crucial to the experience. It’s common to hear the soothing sound of prayer (Azan) and people would celebrate the last day of Ramadan with fireworks. We integrate these two components and create a storyboard to ensure we get the right AR flow.
Next step is to research available webAR technologies to make it a reality. There are a few webAR builder tools available, such as Zapworks and blippbuilder that don’t require coding and a couple of others of robust open-source framework. We experimented with the different available tools and decide to go with the 8th Wall.
8th Wall provides a cloud editor and can be easily integrated into 3D Javascript frameworks, such as A-Frame & three.js. It provides more flexibility for the webAR experience we’re looking to build without having too much complexity to start with. 8th Wall also has a great community support system.
Now that we have all the pieces together, see the Eid al-Fitr webAR greeting card in action below:
When distance set us apart
Forgiveness goes beyond the physical
We wish you a very joyful & prosperous Eid
And grateful to celebrate this blessed month
For those who speak Bahasa Indonesia:
Ketika tangan tak mampu menjabat
Kaki tak dapat melangkah
Hanya hati yang mampu berbisik
Mohon maaf atas segala kesalahan
We hope this greeting card experience provides you with joy :)
From all of us at Sixty Two, Happy Eid Mubarak to those who celebrate.
Note: Drop us a note if you’re looking to build webAR experience. We look forward to collaborating!
