“LA Rams Mini Game” is the first Spectacles Lens developed in collaboration with a professional NFL team.
Snap Inc. this week revealed a new AR-powered Lens for the company’s Spectacles 3 that lets users toss the virtual pigskin with LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Thanks to Snap’s hand-tracking technology, users can play catch using their own two hands rather than a motion controller.
In the cleverly-named “LA Rams Mini Game,” users hold out their hands within view of the Spectacles 3 to equip a virtual glove that enables them to interact with the virtual quarterback in real-time. Every time the player catches a spiral from fake Stafford they earn points that appear on a virtual scoreboard. This offers users a bit of replayability as they return to improve their scores.
“As a sports AR company, we are thrilled to create a sports fan experience of the future, and what’s better for a fan than being able to play catch with your favorite player? Through Spectacles, our focus was to design a lifelike experience that brings fan immersion to the end zone,” said Julien Deis of Immersiv.io, the developer behind the Lens.
“So, we used the hand tracking technology available in Lens Studio to let fans wear a glove and catch the ball from Matt Stafford,” he added. “We’re excited to experiment with the LA Rams to bring an innovative fan experience to life through the power of augmented reality!”
Unfortunately, the Spectacles 3 is currently unavailable to the public, which means the odds of us going hands-on with the unique Lens are slim to none. That said, a general release on the Snapchat app is always a possibility. After all, you only need one hand in order to catch the ball, freeing up your other hand to hold your smartphone device.
While this may be the first Lens developed in collaboration with an NFL team, it’s not the only time we’ve seen the Spectacles used to get users up and moving. Earlier this month we covered a Thor-themed fitness Lens that has users lifting dumbbells in AR. Prior to that, we talked about a Monkey Ball-like experience in which users collect virtual bananas scattered throughout their real-world environments.
Feature Image Credit: Snap Inc.
