Case Study - AR Lenses
Case Study - Snapchat AR - Unicorn Lens
BACKGROUND
IZANA’s founders have worked with AR on multiple projects for privately held companies since 2011, including creating content within the JUNAIO app, before it was acquired by Apple. More recently, we supported AR prototyping for major companies in the areas of lifestyle and gaming. As we specialize in Innovation, we are interested in exploring different platforms and technologies. In particular, for this test we were curious about how much reach we would obtain in Snapchat while prototyping with AR daily.
EXPERIMENT
2D Custom Assets (Non-Interactive)
We started with 2D Frame Assets and used a candy frame as our first test. The candy frame version reached 12.1k views which, while we considered a good number for our first time, is nowhere near what we know the Snapchat user volume is capable of.
So, in the interest of being close to Halloween, the frame art was “reskinned” with a seasonal candy theme, using black, green, and purple colors, plus a pumpkin.
This refresh and post of a new Halloween Themed filter provided 10x the reach of the original, totaling to more than 120k views as of January 2025.
3D Custom Assets
After the success of our 2D test, we wanted to expand our reach with a 3D asset that would give people a more entertaining way to take selfies on Snapchat. We landed on creating a Unicorn Lens as a Fantastical, Funny, and Family Friendly way to bring joy and humor in an immersive way to Snapchat AR.
The Unicorn Lens modifies the user’s face to have larger eyes and other adjustments to the face shape. It also applied a texture over their face to provide a “faux sparkle” highlight near the eyes so that the enlarged pupils had more contrast “pop” surrounding it. A horn was added to the top of the forehead that moved with the user so that they could take a selfie at any angle with their newfound unicorn magic.
Video of our cat using the AR Snapchat Unicorn Lens.
In launching this 3D asset, the combination of being more visual, a 3D element, and more interactive than a flat 2D frame really took off.
It hit 1.25 million in under a day and is now upwards of 1.87 million views. Example of the AR Lens with the Horn and Face mods below.
FINDINGS
The following are some lessons from our short experiments:
2D Assets really do add a fun touch and have their own place, but don’t get as much reach on Snapchat.
3D Assets that are non-interactive, like the snowflake VFX we created for the winter season, don’t hold up to interactive 3D content.
3D Assets that are more interactive, like a horn moving around your head, really do take off.
Also, people really like unicorns!
Interestingly, in terms of regional viewership and interaction with the Unicorn filter, India was the top user with the US coming in second. We did not see this type of interaction with the 2D content, nor 3D VFX.
We posted the Unicorn filter in the late afternoon, so I think a part of it is content but also release timing.
NEXT STEPS
To date, no lenses have come with audio, which I’ve read helps further with engagement and reach. Future lenses I’d like to experiment with similar content, and music.
We are interested to see how combining 3D content with VFX works as well. For example, what if there’s a sparkle ribbon, or glitter VFX attached to the horn tip, and as the user moves, it sprays glitter towards the screen?
Overall, having well over 3 MILLION views in full after the first week of posting to Snapchat AND active engagement (not passive vanity viewing metrics) is exciting.
We look forward to experimenting on the platform further, continuing to learn users’ preferences, and create content with added engagement features.
About IZANA:
IZANA is an art and technology-based consulting business. We have expertise in creative, art, tech, pipeline, and design services.