Once upon a time, Thailand – like Australia – was home to thriving animal communities. Now its animal world is dominated by threatened species.*
Samsung wants to solve that problem and with the country’s abuse of elephants for tourism currently in the news, the company is reaching young generations with its message through an AR experience created by We Are Social Australia.
The experience, called The SanctuARy, intends to raise awareness for some of Thailand’s most threatened and endangered wild animals and put the future of Thailand’s endangered animals directly in people’s hands.
Sixteen of the best Thai creators, from a 14-year-old up-and-coming talent to established artists, came together to create ten artistic representations of native endangered species, using the AR Doodle feature on the Galaxy Note10. Facebook Messenger augmented reality capabilities then used social media to spread the word.
“Collaboration was crucial in bringing our project to life, and not just amongst the artists featured in it,” stated Edu Pou, executive creative director of We Are Social.
“Our team at We Are Social Sydney worked very closely with Samsung Global and Samsung Thailand, Facebook, and the tech wizards at Resn, to lift the work to greater heights.”
The campaign launched in Bangkok, on the rooftop garden of Samyan Mitrtown, visited every day by 25,000 people. Visitors are prompted to scan a code to access the AR experience via a Messenger bot. The AR lens then puts the endangered animals in the palm of the users’ hand, enabling them to stand up for what they care about and inspiring them to take action to raise awareness of the plight of these species, and spread the word on social media.
A disappearing face filter was also created for SanctuARy visitors to unlock. They pick the animal they want to embody and share their selfies with their followers. After a few seconds, the filter disappears, further dramatising and mirroring the plight of these animals slowly fading from our planet.
*http://www.earthsendangered.com/search-regions3.asp?search=1&sgroup=allgroups&ID=350
