ROME, ITALY — Fendi, iconic standard bearer for the excellence and heritage of Italian craftsmanship and Roman savoir fare, dives into the future – and the Metaverse – using augmented reality to offer unprecedented interactive experiences. Following on from the presentation of the fashion show in the Metaverse at the F/W 2022/23 men’s collection, and the subsequent launch of the cryptocurrency wallet, the historic maison continues along the forward-thinking path of innovation with this latest venture.
Two innovative AR effects, developed with Meta’s Spark AR technology and designed by award-winning creative agency BUCK, are now available on Meta’s platforms – Instagram and Facebook.
Today, augmented reality makes it possible to integrate digital experiences into the everyday context. And with this project, Fendi opens those doors to offer an original and interactive way to discover the new, iconic, Faster sneakers – a footwear offering imbued with historic and distinct Fendi codes, an inimitable sense of Roman luxury, and finely balanced by the inclusion of technical fabrics and performance-focused touches. A clear combination of form, function, and forward-thinking design – shared through a medium to match.
An authentic taste of the metaverse
It’s called Faster by Fendi and it’s the AR effect now available for Stories and Reels on both Facebook and Instagram worldwide. Designed as an homage to discovery, through an interactive experience that invites people to search for the Faster sneaker as if they were hidden treasure.
By starting the effect from their cell phones and pointing the screen at any place in the surrounding space, users will transform the environment they are in into a real archaeological site where they can use their hands for a virtual excavation.
Through this experience, with simple hand movements, it will be possible to unearth a series of fragments that will reveal the Faster sneakers as authentic treasures hidden underground.
Among the main innovations of this effect is a completely innovative use of hand detection (hands tracking). This advanced feature uses the hand taken by the cell phone as input and allows people to play with the movement in a completely natural and realistic way, in a “mixed reality” context which creates a mix between real and virtual. Sneakers are revealed to people’s eyes in an incredible high resolution, which preserves the integrity of the physical object and provides a highly accurate digital representation of it, including lighting, textures and reflections.
Also available is Masterpiece by Fendi, powered by an experimental technology. The innovative AR effect is geo-activated in Rome near to Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana at Eur, home of Fendi’s headquarters.
Once users are in the AR effect, they can point their camera at the sign in front of the HQ to reveal a virtual slab of marble.
This experience is a tribute to the brand’s deep connection with Rome and the classical arts, and invites people to try their hand at sculpture, like modern Michelangelos, by shaping a virtual block of stone from which the Faster sneakers take shape, like an authentic masterpiece.
Spark AR: an opportunity for creatives and brands around the world
Meta’s Spark AR technology, which made these remarkably realistic experiences possible, is a platform that enables a global community of creators and developers to create AR effects that can support the expression and communication of brands like Fendi, through increasingly advanced features, in original and creative ways. These are experiences that are increasingly part of people’s lives, just think that more than 700 million people interact with augmented reality effects on Meta every month. Spark AR Studio software enables creators and brands to design, test and publish these AR experiences on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram.
Check out the Faster by Fendi AR lens here and Try out the Masterpiece by Fendi AR lens here.
