NBA: COURTSIDE AR
Thinking back to March 2020, one of the lasting images from the day the pandemic officially felt real was when Rody Gobert mocked COVID by touching a bunch of microphones. That night, the NBA shut down arenas, sent players home, and suspended the season, with no clear sense of when fans would see basketball again.
Fast-forward to summer (after several straight sports-less months), and the NBA made moves to restart the season in a ‘bubble’ at the Disney Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida. Though the courts were filled, the seats were empty, and the NBA wanted to find a way to bring the game to fans stuck watching from home.
So, we brought the new NBA bubble court to fans across the world with the help of Snapchat AR.
Bringing the Bubble Court to Fans
Partnering closely with the NBA, we used high-res images from the new bubble court in Orlando to replicate every wood panel, decal, and hashtag.
On the day the season restarted, the Lens went live on Snapchat, and was shared across platforms on the NBA’s social accounts, as well as by several players.
AR Arena Intros
Growing up a Knicks fan, I knew when you heard the Jordan-era Bulls pregame intro, your season was over.
We brought this NBA pregame energy to fans in the selfie portion of the AR Lens.
Jumping on New AR Tech
Bringing the new NBA bubble court to life in AR wouldn’t have been possible without newly launched ground segmentation technology.
In ELI5 terms, the Snapchat camera could now not only recognize and place AR on the ground, but also avoid objects such as cars or trees (or me figuring out how to dribble again), allowing the court to come to life in the user’s environment.
Bringing Fans Together
We saw fans engage with the AR Lens across the country, helping provide a temporary escape from the reality of quarantine.
