Dubai-based creative and innovation studio wins Snap’s ‘Lens of the Year’ at Lens Fest 2023
Tactical, the global creative and innovation studio headquartered in Dubai, has been awarded the prestigious accolade of ‘Lens of the Year’ at Snap AR’s annual Lens Fest 2023 for its Nike Air Force 1 (AF1) Customiser Lens.
The highly anticipated event was attended by the world’s foremost creators and developers, debuting the latest technology innovations from Snap AR’s ecosystem alongside the most influential Lenses from its 330,000 strong community. Among the ecosystem’s 3.5 Million Lenses, which hold more than 3 trillion views, Tactical’s Lens was awarded one of the event’s top honours.
Reimagining the try-before-you-buy experience with Machine Learning and AR, Tactical’s Lens enables consumers to scan, customise, try on and buy a pair of Nike Air Force 1s (AF1) from anywhere, in real-time. It innovatively brings the future of shopping to life by bridging the gap between retail and e-commerce experiences, allowing shoppers to visualise customised products in their own environment.
With product personalisation becoming increasingly important for today’s consumer, this Lens offers brands a fresh and exciting way for consumers to engage with products.
Mike Khouri, CEO at Tactical comments: “What started out as an idea has gone on to be an award-winning prototype, and the start of the next big thing in experiential retail. AR and retail are a match made in heaven; the immersive technology’s ability to enhance and elevate shopping experiences is just beginning to be realised and we are thrilled to be at the forefront of this. The success of the AF1 Customiser Lens is testament to our bold and undeniably curious team. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Jake Thomas, Head of the UAE market at Snap Inc. in MENA adds: “Over the past five years, we’ve built an incredibly advanced AR tech stack for our amazingly talented developer ecosystem to build upon. We shared our most innovative machine learning, computer vision, and graphics capabilities with the AR community with the aim to empower creators, developers and teams, and to fuel their creativity and businesses. We have some of the most creative talent in the region that continue to push the boundaries of creativity every year and it brings me great joy to see Tactical’s AF1 Lens selected as a prime example of what is possible to achieve with this technology, truly demonstrating what the future of shopping will look like as brands and consumers alike continue to embrace AR as a powerful tool. Huge congratulations to Tactical, and all the winners of the 2023 Lens Fest Awards!”