We caught up with a Lens Creators Abdullah Al-Mahya (AR Gym Jump Jack) and Bas van de Poel (Posture Coach) to get the details on their Lenses and learn how they believe AR can impact health and wellness.
What inspired your health and wellness Lens?
Abdullah: Sometimes, sharing your progress with your friends is what keeps you going so I made this fun Lens where you can exercise & challenge your friends to beat your score & keep your health and wellness in check.
Bas: Since the pandemic, many people are experiencing new aches and pains due to the amount of extra time they find themselves sitting. As scientific studies show, yoga postures have many positive effects on our physical and mental well-being, from improving our posture to promoting mindfulness.
What does wellness look like to you?
Abdullah: I try to lightly exercise whenever I find free time during my busy day. Late night walks and jogging are my favorites.
Bas: I believe wellness is a product of our relationships: to ourselves, to each other, and to the world.
How do you envision people using your Lens?
Abdullah: My hope is that they will share their progress, which will then encourage others to do the same.
Bas: Posture Coach helps Snapchatters pose, practice yoga, and get feedback about their position. The Lens is designed to encourage people to practice daily — offering different routines that are classified by level.
What impact do you think AR can have when it comes to health and wellness?
Abdullah: It’s what made me start developing this Lens! Nothing else can track body positions and movements like AR, which allows us to create these specific exercises. Mine was just one of many possibilities.
Bas: AR has the potential to imagine new ways to elevate our mood and physical well-being. Millions of people are already using AR on a daily basis, making it a democratic platform to provide access to health & wellness interventions.
What do you love about the creator community?
Abdullah: Besides being super nice, they will offer any type of help and suggestions whenever I need it!
Describe what it was like creating a Lens for Snap.
Bas: It has been an incredible opportunity to work with Snap’s creative and technical teams to explore new AR use cases, leveraging the most advanced capabilities in Lens Studio.
What was the technology used when creating this Lens?
Bas: We use body tracking technologies to track your posture and to provide real-time feedback about your position.
What’s on the horizon for your creative career?
Abdullah: My plan is to bring AR into our local educational system through Snap AR tools and brilliant technology that I got to experience. And would love to be more involved within the Snap creators community, they have been great to me and want to help the newcomers the same way I received help when I started.