Meta, the holding company that controls Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced this Thursday (19) the launch of the RAP Challenge, acronym for “Augmented Reality on the Skin”. The program, which is unique to Brazil, aims to promote initiatives that increase diversity within the company’s metaverse.
The RAP Challenge will offer training and awards for projects that increase the presence and improve the representation of black people within the Meta metaverse. Today, 56% of the Brazilian population considers itself to be black or brown, however, it is quite underrepresented in avatars and filters in the virtual environment.
The RAP Challenge will last a total of 12 weeks and will be divided into three phases, starting with education, in which it will be necessary to take the Spark AR Quick Start and Spark AR AR Fundamentals courses. Both courses are offered by Meta on its free course platform, Blueprint.
After the education phase, the challenge itself will come, in which it will be necessary to create a common filter to be used on Instagram and Facebook. Afterwards, the challengers will have to develop a filter that includes at least three different black skin tones.
The award ceremony is scheduled for August 4, with the presence of the project’s ambassadors, actress Lucy Ramos and comedian Esdras Saturnino. In addition, companies described as “diversity-friendly”, such as Ambev, Grupo Boticário, L’Oréal and Magazine Luiza, will participate in the event.
Filters will undergo rigorous evaluation
Filters must be published and approved to the public and follow the Facebook, Instagram and Spark AR community policies. In addition, the filter must not simulate surgical changes or changes in physical characteristics, such as skin tone changes or nose reduction.
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“Opportunities need to be created intentionally and the RAP Challenge was born as a way to open more doors to the black community in the augmented reality universe”, declared Meta’s strategic partnerships manager in Latin America, Erick Portes Martins.
Martins, who is a member of [email protected], an affinity group for black people and allies in the company, emphasizes that the initiative is based on the premise that by including, educating and developing more black AR creators, it is possible to promote more diversity, opportunities and inclusion for this group in the digital environment.
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