AR LUNGS

When AR first came on the scene, it was almost exclusively used in gaming, but I wanted to explore how it could drive real, positive change.

We focused on health. With 200,000 young people in the UK picking up smoking each year, we saw an opportunity to use AR to expose them to its harmful effects in a way that hit home.

With just £7K from new business, we built an AR app that mapped a 3D model of damaged lungs onto the user, then personalised them based on their age, smoking history, and daily intake. This let them see, in real time, the impact smoking could have on their own body, confronting them with their own mortality.

The technology was showcased on Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies in a Teenage Smoking episode. The app racked up 80 million views and drove 110 million visits to site.