Hongwei Tang Creator Spotlight
As we continue with our creator spotlight series, this week we are highlighting Hongwei Tang, an Augmented Reality Designer and Meta Spark AR Partner. He has an incredibly wide portfolio to show for all of his work — we had the privilege of having Hongwei walk us through a day in the life. He provided incredible insight and advice for aspiring AR creators, and opened up about the challenges and benefits of being a creator.
Do you have any advice for viewers who are looking to get started in AR creation?
“Start simple and celebrate each small learning success. Just as Rome was not built in a day, it is important to recognize that learning and mastery take time and effort, and we should not expect perfection overnight. What’s important is simply that you don’t give up and keep going because every challenge means that your brain hasn’t yet made the right connections to understand, but with each small step, this new world is clearing up more and more.”
What does the typical day of a creator look like?
“I wouldn’t say I have a typical day as a creator. Lately, I’m much more interested in learning new things from many different creative fields to be able to write about them as well and provide valuable educational material for other creators, whether beginner or advanced. My day consists of research, experimenting, building small prototypes with a focus on a single feature, testing AR effects from the community, and writing a lot of documentation because I notice the drawbacks of our brains and write content with my future self in mind.”
What is your favorite part of the creation process?
“Good question. I love finding smart solutions to my problems that are adaptable for me and my projects in the long run. With my background in design and code, I look for the best results that come from merging these two worlds. Although I’m not the best at math, my interest in solving graphical problems inspired me to learn more about the math behind shaders* and incorporate them in the creation process.
\* Shaders are programs used in game development to create realistic lighting and visual effects in 3D graphics. They determine the appearance of every pixel on the screen by calculating the color, brightness, and other attributes of every object in the scene. Shaders can be customized and combined to create a wide range of visual effects, from simple shading and reflections to complex simulations of water, fire, and other natural phenomena.”
What are some challenges you face during the creation process?
“Asset optimization is probably my biggest challenge in the creation process, as platforms like Meta Spark, Lens Studio, and Effect House only give you limiting export file sizes in the 4–5 MB range. So every AR game I build is like a bit of magic, because sometimes I’m amazed at myself what fits within the size limits. Personal demand for quality is also something that challenges me here, because I’m always looking for a way to improve existing components visually and in their functionality.”
What are some benefits of being an AR creator?
“As an AR creator, you have the opportunity to use your creativity and imagination to design and develop new and innovative AR experiences that can make a positive impact on people’s lives. You can explore new technologies and techniques, and be at the forefront of innovation in a rapidly evolving field. Additionally, the demand for AR creators is growing, offering career growth and opportunities to collaborate with other professionals like designers, developers, and marketers. Being an AR creator is a fulfilling and exciting way to express your creativity while making a difference in the world.”
How did you get started?
“It was a pure coincidence how I started with XR. It was 2019 and I was still working as a graphic designer and pitched a concept to a client with a colleague and included AR filters from Spark AR in the offering. It’s worth noting here that at the time I had no picture of what AR would really mean for the industry and for me personally. At the time, Meta Spark was still in closed beta and I didn’t know if I would even be accepted for closed beta. Unfortunately, the client didn’t respond to my requests, but at the same time I got the acceptance for the Spark AR closed beta and without much expectation, I took a closer look at the program and after just a few small ideas I was obsessed with the program and didn’t want to stop implementing new ideas. When one of my first effects went viral, it was a big milestone for me because at that time I didn’t know what potential the platform would have, but it definitely encouraged me to keep going. Lately, though, I’ve noticed that the more I get involved with AR, the closer I get to the dream of being a game designer/developer.”
How do you see the future of AR evolving, and what role do you think AR creators will play in shaping that future?
“The future of AR looks very promising, and I can expect it to continue to grow and evolve in the coming years. Probably even faster with the help of AI, see GPT-4 and computer vision.
One of the key drivers of this growth will be the increasing availability and adoption of AR-enabled devices such as smartphones and smart glasses. AR is already being used in a variety of industries, from gaming and entertainment to mobility and education. In the future, we can expect to see even more use cases for AR, such as in retail and e-commerce, manufacturing and logistics, and tourism and travel. AR developers will play a critical role in shaping the future of AR. As AR constantly evolves and becomes more sophisticated, AR developers will need to keep up with the latest technologies and trends to create engaging and effective AR experiences. There also needs to be closer interaction with other stakeholders such as designers, developers, and marketers to ensure that AR experiences are well-designed, easy to use, and meet the needs of the target audience. In summary, AR will play an increasingly important role in our lives, and AR developers will play a key role in shaping future development and applications.”
How do you approach designing and developing AR experiences for different industries and purposes, such as education, entertainment, or advertising?
“Each of these industries appeals to different audiences, and while technical functionalities will be similar, understanding what visual needs each audience brings is a critical factor, and the pace of each experience will also be different. For example, an AR game will be consumed in a much shorter time and will require flashier and more exciting flows than experiences for education, which should appeal to more age groups and can also serve as an assist to traditional education. Usability also doesn’t have to be equally clear across the board because sometimes you do want to appeal to a niche group and they understand the use independently.”
Can you walk me through the process of creating an AR experience, from concept to implementation?
“Concept development: The process begins with developing the idea or concept for the AR experience. This includes identifying the problem or need that the experience will address, determining the target audience, and defining the goals and objectives of the experience. Of course, it’s also important to stake out time constraints and feasibility, because an idea can still evolve differently when there is much less time available.
Planning and Design: Once the concept is established, I move to planning and design. This includes developing a storyboard (I always like to call them game flows for AR games) or mockups in Figma to show the user journey and interface design, as well as creating 3D models and animations for the AR elements.
Development: In the development phase, the components of the AR experience are built using various design tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Blender or Figma (more recently also using AI image generation) so that it can be unified in programs such as Meta Spark Studio, where the final composition is done and where logic and interactivity are also developed. This is where shaders, scripting, patch programming and overall choreography come into play.
Testing and Iteration: once the AR experience is developed, it is tested to ensure it meets the desired goals and works properly. Feedback is gathered from colleagues, friends, and customers, and the experience is iterated and refined as needed. Collected user data from this phase is important for polishing the experience.
Deployment and Distribution: Once the AR experience has been tested and polished, it is ready for deployment on the respective AR Hub Platform and distribution to the target audience.
Maintenance and Updates: Finally, ongoing maintenance and updates are required to ensure the AR experience continues to function properly and remain relevant to the target audience. This includes fixing bugs, updating content, and incorporating new features or functionality.
\* Note: This would be the clearly separated step by step process, but often everything happens simultaneously, because some projects take on a certain complexity and things then have to happen simultaneously side by side.”
How do you ensure that your AR experience is user-friendly and accessible to a wide range of users, regardless of their technical proficiency?
“You can’t always guarantee that completely. The first version often doesn’t take everything into account, but I’ve noticed that the sooner I can get a version into a user’s hands for testing, the better I can gather valuable data to optimize the effect for a wider audience. Whether it’s family, friends, or any acquaintances, you can never really gauge how a user will handle an AR experience.”
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest AR technology and trends, and incorporate them into your work?
“I think the most important thing here is that you deal with AR on a daily basis and you prototype a quick idea now and then, not with the goal of publishing it, but that you get familiar with a feature or logic. And of course, the exchange with the community is valuable, because I think learning is a community effort.”
To learn more about Hongwei Tang and to see his work, visit the social channels and website below:
Website: https://www.hongweitang.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hongweitangcom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hongweitangcom
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hongweitang
