HAFID REYES BREAKS DOWN AR,DIGITAL IDENTITY AND SELF-EXPRESSION

Hafid Reyes is a freelance full-stack developer and creates some of the most dynamic and expressive AR filters. To see more of his work, follow him on Instagram and Filta (@mexihkano) .

Hi Hafid! Thank you so much for speaking with me about this exciting topic and bringing me into your world. Let’s begin with how you got started and what it is that you do! 

I started with mechanical engineering. It didn't really work out. I realized that I was more into the machines and the technology, the robotics. I did enjoy physics and math, and that definitely helps me nowadays. But I was more creative. 

I enjoy using the tools, like the software and machinery, but I wanted to be more abstract and be more creative, be more hands on, which I later learned that you eventually get to do in engineering, but I was just eager to get started. Nowadays I use similar tools and techniques and principles, definitely. 

My official title is a full stack freelancer. Basically similar to full stack development. 

I work on the back and the front end. As a freelancer, I do a lot of 3D, augmented reality, motion graphics, and VFX from both the technical and the creative side. So, I take on projects and I wear many hats ust like any freelancer. 

I've been a gamer ever since I can remember. So, gaming inspired most of my interest in robots, therefore mechanical engineering. 

Wow, that’s interesting to hear that you started as a mechanical engineer! You have a lot of experience when it comes to designing for a purpose, then. Break down what augmented reality means - all of us know what it is, we’ve interacted with it a great deal over the years from Snapchat to Instagram, etc. - but what is the purpose of augmented reality?

From my perspective, it is just a layer of reality. It is a layer of, I would say, freedom as well, where you can be as creative as you want because you don't have the physical limitations. So you don't have to make masks. It can be anything that you want.

It can be marketing for those people interested in marketing, it can be self expression, like I am doing right now. The only limit is what the computer can make at the current time and the graphics, but that's just going to get better and weirder over time. Eventually the line between reality and virtual reality, augmented reality, is going to be very thin when AI gets implemented.

I would say the purpose is to be creative, to build on top of the world. Augmented is not to replace the world, it's to build on top of it. 

It's definitely being more immersed into our lives and now with our eyes. We've been looking at screens for a while, and now it's time for us to look through the eyes of a camera. That's going to expand the world around us. I would say that right now we are already cyborgs because our devices are close to us and we depend on them so much, and eventually we're performing this symbiosis with machines. Augmented reality is also part of the symbiosis because we're going to be able to see through their eyes, through their operating system, through their creation. 

We’re seeing it add a new layer to how we experience fashion and also, as you pointed out, with self expression. We’re being given endless opportunities on a daily basis. When did you first begin to see ARs impact in the fashion industry? 

Well, I've seen filters from Snapchat when I started doing Snapchat, like, two years ago, I knew digital fashion was already a thing whenever The Fabricant sold the everdescent dress. But that wasn't augmented, that was just digital fashion. The first instances of AR fashion was with Snapchat technology. So companies like DressX, XR Couture and a lot of other independent artists, independent brands, I saw them about two years ago.

So, you’ve been in the space of AR, VR, etc. for a while now! What has your experience been working in AR thus far? 

Oh, man, it's been a hard transition.

I started doing 3D and the reason I loved 3D so much at the beginning is because you have depth into the worlds and the creations that you make. But at the end of the day, sometimes you see it on a screen, you see it on a flat screen. So there was no point for me to create a 3D experience if you still see it in 2D, it's kind of like degrading the work, like all the details that I focus on in the backend and stuff like that. 

When I discovered augmented reality, it's a different process because things are running in real time. In contrast to letting the computer render one image in 10 seconds, you have to render images in real time. 

So that’s what caught my eye, because now you can experience it and you can interact with it better. 

That’s what makes augmented reality so great. It gives us the opportunity to experience things, like fashion, on a deeper level. At FRWRD, we’ve used DressX, Zero10, Snapchat and Instagram and all of them have their pros and cons. Some are better at tracking than others and for some the overall quality of the garments or the face pieces are very different. What are the factors needed for a good quality AR experience?

For a good experience, you definitely require good graphics. Our eyes are really good at detecting all of the imperfections. Like you said, the tracking of the material is pixelated sometimes. But also, a good experience also depends on the platform. The reason it [AR filters] is really famous on social media is because it's really accessible and it becomes mainstream. A lot more people use it, but it definitely does not work when you want higher quality. Just like the technical aspect of it. It's too much information for our phones right now to process in real time. 

You need dedicated applications, like Zero10, that only focus on clothing and doing it the best way possible. It's a different platform, but if you do want that next level stuff, that's where you're going to find it, or like Filta as well. You need a dedicated software just for the filters because they're getting heavy if you do want better quality.

You cannot run this [high-quality filters] on social media. It would explode. Your phone will not take it. 

I had no idea that the complexity of the filters can affect performance on a platform! One of my favorite filters of yours, Identity Circus, morphs into different masks, each with their own personalities. What goes into making a multi-dimensional filter such as that one and how did you arrive on that idea for that filter?

Well, it depends. I had been working on it for probably like a year. 

I bought these models from a Mexican artist from my city, like one and a half years ago. I've had them and I just haven't found the right moment. So the way that I approach 3D, there's so many steps like modeling and texturing and animating and VFX, so the way that I've been doing my work is I usually either buy the models or buy texture packs or lighting packs because even though I wear many hats, it's not sustainable for the business. 

I've been going through a lot of changes in life and the emotional situation, a lot of times, makes the art. It's manifested through art. 

Identity Circus by Hafid Reyes

That ties into creating a digital identity, which continues to be a primary talking point as the technology develops and we become more intertwined through experiences and interactions. What does it mean for you and what role do you see AR playing in the creation of our digital identities? 

Yeah, I think we've been doing digital identity for a while. We just started talking about it more now. And it goes back to your first profile on social media, that was definitely a digital representation of you. Maybe it was closer to you in real life.

At the moment we started interacting in a digital world, like, the first profile that you had either was social media or, like online gaming or anywhere, like even email - that was your first digital identity. Now that we can add photos, and now that we have characters representing us, we talk more about it.

To me, it's an opportunity to explore my identity because I don't have limitations of what I can look like. I can change my face, I can change my voice, for example, but it's still me. 

The things that I say, the things that I talk about, even my tone is going to stay. So that's what I've been liking about it so far, is that, yeah, you can change all these things, but we're more than just bodies. We're more than just like what we look like.

I think AR in the creation of our digital identities is crucial. I think it's the best tool for you to do it, to explore those identities in real time.

So, where are we at right now in terms of technology, like tracking for example?

In order for us to have good tracking, it relies on Apple's Face tracking technology, the same technology that they use for the emojis. So Apple gives developers access to that technology so they can develop stuff like this. But we rely on the sensors that are built on the front facing camera. 

But there's other ways, like social media, the way they do it, they don't use sensors, they use the image. They recognize the human face. 

I feel like we're just building an efficient form factor of the technology. It's going to start with glasses. I don't know how they're going to do it. When it goes to potential contact lenses, I don't know where they're going to put all the sensors. 

Going back to the glasses and the potential contact lenses. Once our phones are no longer needed to experience, do you see us experiencing it even more on a day to day basis outside of just entertainment? 

Yeah, definitely. I mean, anything that you use your phone for, you're going to be able to do it with the glasses. If you go to any store, any bar, any party, any physical place, you can augment that space with augmented reality. 

I feel like that's also needed because we have so many apps on our phones nowadays. We just need to make a more seamless experience for all of these. So that's what I'm excited about. 

In order to have that seamless experience, do you think that our phones have to be removed?

I would say that I don't want to carry a phone. At the beginning, we are going to still rely on the phone. It's not going to be fully glasses, but eventually it will have a flexible supercharged battery that is going to come in and we're not going to need it anymore. 

Let's talk about the designing and the creation of your filters.

How did you start designing and creating your own AR filters? How advanced are the tools and programs that you’re using?

I started with photography, and then it moved to video, and then video wanted me to create special effects.

I learned 3D. I learned motion graphics, and then I started to do augmented reality with that knowledge. I think it's important to say that I started with photography because even though it's a digital world, we still have digital cameras that they're based on the physical world. So it's important for you to know how a camera works. Just like composition and design as well, like design principles, animation principles, all that kind of stuff. 

The tools can be pretty advanced. They don't have to be. You can learn the basics and definitely get stuff like this done. All of the programs can be really extensive. From the modeling, from the texturing, from ones that you have to plug everything in.

It definitely took a while, a couple of cries for me to get into it. At the beginning, I almost gave up because it's a different world I came from like, oh, let me render something cool. Motion graphics, smoke effects, particles, to make it in real time. 

You recently started working with Zero10 as a community manager. ZERO10 has one of the best AR fashion experiences - the quality and garments available are incredible. How do you get creators to not only engage and interact with AR filters but think and feel differently about it? 

It's mainly been a focus on creators, like digital fashion creators. So that's the people that I've been talking to the most, so eventually they do want to expand. For example, we had somebody that does cosplay, right? And this technology will be great for them because they are streamers but also they like to be the characters in the comic books and the movies and yeah, this is perfect for cosplay because you can transform, you still have to do work digitally, but you save those physical resources. It's an art form of itself, but sometimes it's not accessible.

So, this makes it accessible somewhat for those people that might not have a 3D printer to make a new robotic arm for the suit, or you can do digital makeup with this, right. So, I think it's a perfect tool for them, obviously, any type of performance, they can use it. I mean, digital fashion is the starting point because now you're not constrained to the physical body. 

Lastly, do you have any advice for anyone who's interested in creating and producing their own filters?

You have to just get to it. Just like stop thinking and get to it. At least for me, it helps a lot when I get to it, I get inspired. Because you're going to plan it. You want it to be perfect.

I have 117 filters that I told you, but I only published 30. A lot of them are at least not worth it for me yet. That's why, like, the identity circus, I was working on the idea for a while.

Yeah. So it's fine to start creating now. You don't have to publish everything. Maybe publish what you're proud of or what you want to show for a portfolio. 

But you have to start, you have to start as soon as possible. I mean, tools are going to get easier, but you want to get a head start on things. So social media is a great place to learn the basics. That's where I started.

But eventually, if you want more, then go to Filter, go to Zero10. That's where you're going to get the next level stuff. But it's really easy to get started on social media. There's a lot of templates, a lot of tutorials, but you have to watch them. You have to watch the tutorials.

Yeah, it came to a point where I was watching tutorials on my breaks instead of watching TV. It was just like tutorials on YouTube. Even if you don't do the tutorial, just like, watch it as entertainment. I'll say another thing that helped me is watching it a couple of times because some of them are hard. So, you can watch it the first time just to see, and then the second time follow a tutorial and then try it again without watching the tutorial.