The Annual #IdeaDrive
By the end of every year, I’ve got a parking lot full of ideas that never drove off the lot. In my annual #IdeaDrive, I take ‘em out for a spin. Here are a few topline XR content concepts parked in 2025. Maybe one day, when the time is right, they’ll hit the open road.
AI Language Learning
What
A conversational & contextual language learning companion integrated into your daily life
Why
Young Market: 48% of young adults use language learning apps
White Space: Existing mobile & XR language learning apps focus on didactic lessons and gamification, rather than learning through real-life environments and situations
Educational Value: In-context language practice supercharges applied foreign language skills (speaking and comprehension), but is not always accessible to learners
AI Advantage: Language learners fear judgment and embarrassment in practicing with real native speakers. Practicing with conversational AI solves this problem (UXR shows that AI fitness coaches make users feel more comfortable and less judged than “real” ones).
How
Contextual AI: Lingogo scans your space and uses its contents and your real-time actions as the canvas for conversation and learning
Character Design: Lingogo’s persona is supportive, authentic, and playful. Visually, the character morphs and transforms expressively based on the content of conversation and the objects in view.
Conversation Design: Lingogo assesses your level and speaks in an appropriate mix of your native language and the one you’re learning, at a pace that works for you, in short bits of dialogue for repartee.
Multitasking: Lingogo is visually lightweight, so doesn’t require constant and complete visual attention. It’s easy to use while doing other at-home everyday tasks and chores, and can even integrate those actions into conversation. Or, Lingogo can fade out and wait idly if it sense you’re occupied.
Key Features
Pronunciation Practice: Lingo assesses and helps you dial in your accent as you go
Vocab Mode: Lingogo can pin persistent vocabulary labels on common objects around your space to hlep you drill key words all day long
Ultimate Replay
What
Spatial 3D replays of the biggest plays of the game, life-size and real-time
Why
Fan Demand: Game highlights are the most popular form of sports content consumed
Tech Readiness: Highlight moments are already filmed from multiple angles, and motion capture tech is already in use in stadiums
Proof of Concept: Years ago at Snapchat I worked on a viral Nike campaign that brought Jordan’s iconic '1988 dunk to life, at-scale, in photorealistic 3D AR. It felt magical to relive this historic moment up close at home, and fans and the industry lost their minds over it.
How
Codec Avatars: Pre-rig 3D Codec Avatars of all team members
Production Pipeline: Leverage existing mo-cap tech in stadiums; use ML models to reconstruct 3D poses; retarget motion onto athlete avatars
Key Highlights: Replays are available for select key moments per game
Partnerships: Brands can sponsor this new format, in the same way they own other highlights packages
Key Features
360 Viewable: Relive the moment from any / every angle
Speed Controls: Users can pause, slow down, and speed up the replay
Collectibles: Store your favorite moments in your Replay XR library to keep reliving them forever
Spatial Calendar
What
A spatial calendar that tunes time to you.
Key Features
Landscape View: Schedules appear as curved, arcing timelines that dynamically flow left to right, highlighting priorities and signaling event types through size, shape, intensity
Daymaker: Greets you with a digest of your top 3 things to know today — e.g. commute prediction, weather forecast, birthday alerts, summary of missed messages, progress toward goals
North Star: Input goals / priorities and keep them visible and top-of-mind all day long
Wake Mode: Gentle lighting shifts and calming soundscapes ease you into focus at the start of the day (who else loves their sunrise alarm clock?)
Tunnel Vision: For the chronically late — shift to tunnel vision to visualize events moving toward you in space while you work, with ambient cues you can’t ignore
Why
Universal Use Case: Calendars are a daily, always-on tool
Human Behavior: Humans naturally process information and time in terms of spatial relationships — flat panels and grids don’t align with the way we mentally organize and navigate our days
Chronobiology: Calendars should work in sync with our daily physiological patterns and rhythms
Ease Overwhelm: Curating the content we see first thing in the morning helps combat overwhelm and stress, with benefits that last all day long
How
This new calendar app integrates data from key sources:
Biometrics (from wearables)
Native calendar apps
Maps (for commute times)
Weather
Messages & Social
Clueless Closet
What
A personal AI stylist / shopper to manage and build your wardrobe
Why
Agentic Shopping: AI is already poised to transform the category. Add Camera API and AR, and we can unlock a whole new category of fashion shopping services.
Consumer Problem-Solving: An AI wardrobe assistant eases real consumer pain points — combats shopping overwhelm, democratizes personal styling, and helps users make the most of clothing they already own
Wearables Differentiator: Developers have tried to deliver the “Clueless Closet” experience before, but faced lots of blockers inherent to mobile — which hands-free devices can solve
How
AI Stylist First: Launch as an AI fashion assistant that can make contextual, personalized recommendations — both for ways to wear and combine existing pieces, and shopping guidance tuned to your taste, needs, and trends
Digital Wardrobe Second: Over time, as Tog captures and catalogs new purchases and a seamless data pipeline develops, Tog evolves into a complete AR wardrobe inventory and remixer
Key Features
AI Styling: Describe / refine your fashion sense, source inspiration, get tips, make purchases, and learn to remix your wardrobe
Shopping: Get live, personalized insights while you shop; new purchases are automatically logged in your MR closet
Trend Try-On: Preview trending styles modeled on your Codec Avatar; learn how to remix trends with your existing closet, grounding aspiration in reality
Closet Capture: Eventually, explore way s to enable low-friction garment scanning to capture rich data about pre-existing clothing items
Spatial Horoscope
What
Explore your daily star chart in stunning AR
Key Features
Daily Horoscope: Watch a 3D visualization of the movements in your sky, and learn what that means for you today
Birth Chart: Explore a beautiful spatial view of how the cosmos looked the day you were born — and what that says about you
Time Travel: Scrub forward to see what the future may hold, and back to revisit your star map at important moments in your life
Social: Share your chart with friends to learn about each other and see how you match up
Why
Proven Market: Leading apps like Co-Star have 10s of millions of downloads and have strongly penetrated core demographics (1 in 4 young women in the US)
Differentiation: AR can meaningfully enhance astrology, which is complex and hard to visualize. Dynamic 3D can help us understand how stars move and what terms like “aspect,” “house,” and “retrograde” really mean in the sky, while making the experience magical and beautiful.
Daily Use Case: Horoscopes furnish new content every day, fostering a daily “check my Orbital” habit
Wellness Probe: Astrology is a low-risk way to experiment with AI in the wellness space, nurturing self-reflection and self-discovery
How
AI-Led: A conversational, agentic AI guide helps users interpret and navigate their stars
Partnerships: Join forces with Chani Nicholas and her wildly popular app
Training Pacer
What
Compete against your avatar (or your friends’ avatars), moving at the pace of your (or their) last PR
Why
Community Fitness: Athletes who share or compete socially are 21% more likely to stay consistent year-over-year (Strava Year in Sport, 2023)
Scaling Elite Practices: Elite training methods often include “shadow” pacers — a tool everyday athletes can’t access
Proven Demand: There’s consumer appetite for “race yourself” mechanics, as seen in Mario Kart “ghosts” and Zwift’s “pacer bots”
In fact, Nike created a custom track several years ago called “Unlimited Stadium,” designed to visualize your pace on a screen as you run — but of course, it was only accessible in-person, in Manila (Philippines) ⤵️
Spatial Horoscope
What
Explore your daily star chart in stunning AR
Key Features
Daily Horoscope: Watch a 3D visualization of the movements in your sky, and learn what that means for you today
Birth Chart: Explore a beautiful spatial view of how the cosmos looked the day you were born — and what that says about you
Time Travel: Scrub forward to see what the future may hold, and back to revisit your star map at important moments in your life
Social: Share your chart with friends to learn about each other and see how you match up
Why
Proven Market: Leading apps like Co-Star have 10s of millions of downloads and have strongly penetrated core demographics (1 in 4 young women in the US)
Differentiation: AR can meaningfully enhance astrology, which is complex and hard to visualize. Dynamic 3D can help us understand how stars move and what terms like “aspect,” “house,” and “retrograde” really mean in the sky, while making the experience magical and beautiful.
Daily Use Case: Horoscopes furnish new content every day, fostering a daily “check my Orbital” habit
Wellness Probe: Astrology is a low-risk way to experiment with AI in the wellness space, nurturing self-reflection and self-discovery
How
AI-Led: A conversational, agentic AI guide helps users interpret and navigate their stars
Partnerships: Join forces with Chani Nicholas and her wildly popular app
Immersive Podcast
What
Get inside the booth with your favorite podcast hosts
Why
Visual Medium: YouTube is the most popular platform for podcast consumption
Intimacy: Fans love the intimate feel of podcasts, which immersion can further enhance
How
Showcase Partners: Choose 1 or more popular hosts to trial the format
Codec Avatars: Hosts record shows with glasses on, capturing all the data of their movements and expressions for Codec Avatar animation
Hyperscape: Capture and recreate photorealistic studio environments
Key Features
Timeline Reactions: Send emoji reactions as you listen — reactions appear on a shared public timeline
Multitask Mode: To focus on the podcast, toggle to immersive mode to stay inside the booth. To multitask, switch to a spatial “picture in picture” mode, minimizing the app inside a semi-transparent bubble that stays in the periphery.
Style Grabber
What
Capture any neck-up look you see (hairstyle, haircut, hair color, makeup) and try it on yourself.
Why
Proven Behavior: If I learned anything from a decade at Snapchat, it’s that users have a bottomless appetite for transformational, realistic face filters
Experimentation: Young people want to try new looks, but the stakes feel high
Influencer Inspo: Consumers look to celebs to for style ideas, but it’s hard to tell if their trend or style is right for you
Friend Feedback: Consumers rely heavily on close friends’ input when making big personal style decisions, so a social “try and share” makes sense
How
Sources: Pull look inspiration from camera rolls, social media, or anything in your field of view
SAM 3D & Gen AI: Use segmentation to extract look elements and then transform them into 3D, using Gen AI to fit it perfectly to every face.
Live / Post-Capture: Either try on looks in the mirror in the live camera (challenging), or apply looks to photos
Avatar Mode: Try any look on your 3D Codec Avatar, instantly
Product Integration: Surface relevant shoppable products to help get the look IRL
Key Features
Look Library: Save your favorite look elements to a persistent collection
Social: Instantly share looks you’re trying on through messages
