Optimus Prime Rolls Out on Snapchat

When it comes to the current state of augmented reality (AR), I'm going to paraphrase Charles Dickens: It is the best of times, but it is also the worst of times. Thankfully, we have Autobot leader Optimus Prime to show us the way (sort of).

I've spent over a year using Polycam and RealityScan to take scans of all sorts of 3D objects. While I've put some scans on display in FrameVR galleries I set up online, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with them in AR. I have yet to find a good platform for the distribution of AR content, but I recently heard that Snapchat has added AR capabilities to its lens feature. I don't expect Snapchat to become the YouTube equivalent for AR content, but it's a start. Last Thursday, I created an AR lens of scan I took of a scrap metal sculpture of Optimus Prime so that Snapchat users can bring this Autobot into their own AR spaces. This must have been a good choice, because it has gotten over 55,000 views since then.

Of course, this particular version of Optimus Prime has his own story. This Optimus Prime doesn't fight Decepticons; instead, he's bothering a bunch of residents of the Georgetown neighborhood in Washington DC who think he's an eyesore.

Autobot scrap sculptures in Georgetown (above) and in AR (below).

I heard about the Optimus Prime sculpture and his companion sculpture Bumblebee on the news last April. These two sculptures belong to neuroscientist and Georgetown University professor Dr. Newton Howard, who had them mounted in front of his house in 2021. The sculptures were made from spare medical parts from equipment used to treat neurological ailments like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, the diseases that Howard has researched. However, other residents of the Georgetown neighborhood have been fighting to get these sculptures removed for a long time, so I thought I would get scans of the sculptures before they disappeared.

Below are snapcodes for the Optimus Prime and Bumblebee lenses. When you view them through Snapchat, you can adjust their size and placement, and you can even walk around them.

The snapcodes for Optimus Prime (above) and Bumblebee (below).

While I was at Georgetown getting the Autobot scans, I also did a full scan of the stairs that were scene in the final moments of The Exorcist (a.k.a. "The Exorcist stairs"). Below is a video short I made of that scan that I posted on my MindEyeMedia channel on YouTube.