We’ve created a first-of-its kind experience that lets people try on the latest adidas shoes through their phones. This will change the way people shop for shoes forever.

We were inspired by the face-mapping technology of Snapchat lenses. We thought, if the same technology can be applied to reading the dimensions of a shoe, we could turn your shoes, into the latest adidas shoes. If we could pair this technology with an effective digital delivery method, then we could get people in Nike stores to try on adidas shoes instead. Regulations in the US prohibit brands from advertising in other brand’s stores, so the delivery method had to be something that isn’t owned by any brand of entity.

We used augmented reality to create AR Drops, the first ever digital shoe try-on experience, where you could point your phone at your feet and it would turn your shoes into the Ultraboost19. So you could try the shoes right through your phone, from wherever you are.

Then, we went to all our competitor’s stores to find customers in the market for new sneakers, and used Apple’s AirDrop (a feature typically used to share pictures and videos) to drop our digital shoe right onto people’s phones. So for the first time ever, people were trying adidas shoes— in Nike stores.

September - Developed UI of idea

November 15 - First prototype of AR Lens

November 30 - Developed a prototype of AirDrop experience

December - Testing of both experiences

December 11- Launch of experience via AirDrop and as Snap Lens

When you point your phone at your feet, our AR experience maps your shoes and defines the size, shape, and direction of your foot. This can be adjusted if need be. Then the experience turns your shoes— into the latest adidas sneaker, so you can get a full 360 degree view of what it would look like on your feet. This experience is then delivered through Apple’s AirDrop (a feature typically used to share photos and videos with people nearby) right onto people’s phones. So when they’re at Nike, shopping for sneakers, they get a notification to try-on the latest adidas sneaker. The experience then leads them directly to adidas.com where they can purchase the shoe, or sign up for a waitlist.

60 million people tried on a shoe that hadn’t even been released yet. 2.4 million people visited adidas.com directly from the experience to sign up to buy the shoe. This technology could completely change the way we shop for shoes. We could replicate this technology for every adidas sneaker in the future and help boost our already growing ecommerce business.