DUBAI: Meta has announced the winners of its first MidEast Spark AR Challenge, which was launched in May.

The three-week competition encouraged creators to visualize the impact of technology and innovation on future lifestyles, mobility, work, and communication by designing augmented reality effects using Meta鈥檚 AR tool, Spark AR.

Creators submitted over 400 effects for a chance to win cash prizes totaling over $50,000. The challenge featured two tracks: 鈥淢obility of Tomorrow鈥� in partnership with Emirates and 鈥淥pportunities of the Future鈥� in partnership with Accenture.

The 鈥淢obility of Tomorrow鈥� track saw the first prize of $6,000 go to Syaoki Biek for his AR effect 鈥淔ly Above the Future.鈥�

Safa Hadil Nani won the first prize in the 鈥淥pportunities of the Future鈥� track for her effect 鈥淰R Gaming Room.鈥�

Second-place winners received $3,000 each, and third-place winners got $1,000 each. The winners also had the chance to have their effects featured on Emirates鈥� and Accenture鈥檚 social media pages.

A panel of experts from Accenture, Emirates, the Museum of the Future, Lenslist, and Meta judged the submissions.

They reviewed each entry based on four criteria: Craftsmanship, originality, creativity, and theme.

Participants also had the chance to enhance their skills through workshops with two expert AR developers: Kym Fiala, a Spark AR network partner and co-founder of South Africa-based digital agency Pixel Chefs; and Balraj Bains, a creative designer, project manager and freelance AR creator based in the UK.

The challenge theme was 鈥淭omorrow Today 鈥� What will the next decade bring?鈥�

The competition was organized in collaboration with Coders HQ and the Museum of the Future.