Maybelline Fab Lab
Maybelline Fab Lab is a lab adventure game that allows the player to craft and try make up real time in AR.
My role
AR designer and prototype designer.
How was the
process like?
Extremely fast paced during the course of 2 weeks plus 2 other weeks of revisions to create a working demo as proof of concept.
Who is our user?
Any mobile game user that identifies as female and has interest in the creative side of make up.
Outcome
Our project was presented at NY Fashion week by Maybelline NY as the finalist project for their first incursion in games.
Why?
According to a study by Newzoo and Google Play, 49% of mobile gamers identify themselves as women. Additionally, 65% of women aged 10-65 in the United States play mobile games.
Maybelline wanted to jump on this trend and make games for women made by women. This was the first introduction in games by the famous make up brand. In an attempt to attract new audiences and stay current to new technology trends for younger audiences.
We assembled a super all-female team for Maybelline's first incursion in video games. Our project was presented at NY Fashion week by Maybelline NY as the finalist project for the brand's first incursion in games.
AR Make Up Component
One of the most useful features in the game is the ability to try on the make up products you craft and collect during your missions. The brand was particulary interested in jumping into the trend of face recognition, and make up face filters. In fact L’Oréal which is Maybeline's brand umbrella recently acquired Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence company called ModiFace.
The Augmented Reality make up viewer was one of the features that Maybelline was interested in incorporate into the game.
I prototyped this feature using Unity3D and OpenCV face recognition.
This was my first incursion in face recognition for Augmented Reality, and I personally found it quite interesting although I personally worried about the message that we are sending to young users, due to the current over use of face filters and digital make up in social media.
Game Design and Narrative
Our team was formed by Laura Tallardy, Valentina Stanislavskaia, Karlen Tam and me.
The game idea for Maybelline Fab Lab came during our team brainstorming session at the beginning of the Maybelline game jam. Our team wanted to showcase a game that channeled the creative spirit of Maybel the founder of Maybelline who created a very successful eyebrow make up and mascara using simple ingredients at home.
We quickly realized that crafting make up could be a fun and attractive game mechanic, that makes the time worth exploring its possibilities. The player can chose an avatar that will represent them during their quest to craft more and more products and find ingredients and sell points across the Big Apple expanding their business.
The further the player gets into the different missions, open new stores and grow their business the more real life rewards and discounts in Maybelline products can be collected and used in real stores.
The Demo
Our team finished the demo un record time. Our demo was fully playable and the AR component was functional. The Maybelline Fab Lab demo had more than 50 items that you can combine in hundreds of ways to craft make up and other easter eggs.
Outcome
Maybelline Fab Lab was the finalist for this unique project, L’Oréal Maybelline team gave us constant feedback and guidance during the 2 weeks prior the final presentation. Our project was presented at NY Fashion week by Maybelline NY as the finalist project for their first incursion in games.