Learn AR with SPECS

Design an augmented reality app for glasses, and let an AI coding agent build it in Lens Studio. You don't need the glasses, because everything runs in Lens Studio's preview on your laptop. You'll get a short concept video, a skill pack for your coding agent, a live build session, and a live project review. $2,500 in prizes each round.

ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Screens won't be the only place we use computers. Glasses are coming, and building for them is different from building for a laptop or a phone.

Most first tries at AR end up as a website floating in front of your face. Good AR does things a laptop can't do:

• It shares your view. The camera sees what you see, so the app can respond to it.
• It draws in the world. Content sits on the table, over the stove, at real size, right where it belongs.
• It leaves your body free. Your hands stay available and your eyes stay up, so you can keep doing the real thing.

Coding agents can now build a working Lens from a good description. So the hard part is deciding what's worth building and how it should feel. That's what this hackathon teaches.

You'll install our Devpost Learn skill pack in your coding agent. It interviews you about your idea, checks it against AR design best practices, and writes a design brief. Then Snap's CLAD agents build the Lens in Lens Studio from that brief, and you try it in the preview. You'll finish with a working Lens, the plan behind it, and a way of thinking about AR you can use on every project after this one.

WHY JOIN

• Learn what makes a good AR app, from the design decisions an agent can't make for you.
• Build for SPECS, Snap's AR glasses, without owning a pair.
• Try Snap's newest agent tools: CLAD, the Lens Studio MCP, and LEAF testing.
• Get help from real people in a live build session and a live project review.
• Compete to win a share of $2,500. First place takes $1,250, and every winner gets a feature in the Devpost newsletter and on Devpost's socials. Everyone who submits an eligible project gets a Devpost Learn badge and a special role in the Devpost Discord.

GET STARTED

1. You'll need a computer that runs Lens Studio, Node.js and Git, and a coding agent that supports skills.
2. Set up your tools with the quick start on the Resources tab: your coding agent, Lens Studio, the Lens Studio MCP, and the CLAD plugin.
3. Watch the concept video (at the top of this page). It's short, and it covers the design ideas the judges look for.
4. Install the skill pack: npx skills add challengepost/learn-specs --all -y. Then open your coding agent and say "Run the plan-lens skill." It takes it from there.
5. Join the SPECS channel in the Devpost Discord for questions and to see what other builders are making.
6. Register for the Learn AR with SPECS Live Build Session on Thursday, Oct 22 at 12PM ET. We build a Lens start to finish. It's recorded if you can't make it.
7. Come to the Learn AR with SPECS: Live Project Review on Thursday, Nov 5 at 12PM ET. We review a few projects in progress against the judging criteria, so you still have time to act on the feedback before the deadline.
8. Stuck? Ask in the Discord channel. Setup help, the FAQ, and event details are on the Resources tab.