In France, like many western countries, public space lacks monuments honouring women. What

about empowering Women’s Legacy through Augmented Reality?

On the occasion of International Women's Day, March 8, 2023, Snap's AR Studio in Paris is honoring 8 emblematic women in 8 major French cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, Metz, and Nantes) through a unique augmented reality experience: 8th of March, 8 women.

As a storytelling company, Snap knows that stories have the power to change hearts, minds, and

behaviors. Stories create empathy, which can inspire behavior change across Snap and the

broader industry. And although our industry is data-driven, we understand numbers are not a

substitute for lived experience. The differing lived experience of underrepresented groups can

reduce feelings of belonging, which in turn reduces opportunity to realize potential. Snap’s goal in

inspiring empathy is to create a shared culture of belonging for all.

While as many women as men have marked the course of history, the vast majority of sculptures

in the urban space in France (squares, gardens and streets) honour male characters.

Snap's AR Studio has thus imagined augmented reality statues of women who have left their mark on history in the fields of politics, arts and letters or resistance.

These augmented reality statues are installed next to the physical statues of their male counterparts -hence creating a silent dialogue between two historical figures, a male & a female, a physical & a virtual, both having lived in the same era, walked similar fields, achieved close successes.

Each of these 8 virtual statues honours the achievements of the following 8 great women in

history and helps to commemorate their contributions to french society:

- Simone Veil: Champion of women’s rights, emblem of the 1975 law that legalized abortion and the first female president of the European Parliament.

- Simone de Beauvoir: a writer and philosopher of the existentialist movement who advocated for the emancipation of women in her writings.

- Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun: achieved critical and popular success in the

artistic world despite facing a female artists

- Françoise de Graffigny: One of the most emblematic female figures of 18th century French

literature.

- Manon Tardon: Figure of the French Resistance and Free France.

- Josephine Baker: An American-born singer, actress, feminist.

- Olympe de Gouges: Principal author of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman.

It took AR Studio Paris and its partners a total of 3 months, from ideation to launch, to create true

virtual monument as close to physical ones as possible. 3D artists and producers scrutinised the

physical statues in order to develop a virtual counterpart replicating sculpting techniques and

materials. AR engineers exploited Snap Inc. proprietary technologies (Location AR, Environment

mapping, Surface Tracking…) to to bring this augmented reality experience to life.

The AR experience was amplified with a social and communication campaign, brand

ambassadors, city council support, and local events on selected cities. “March 8, 8 Women”

gathered 77 national and local press coverages on March 8th (highest PR coverage for Snap

France), engaged 125 000 snapchat France users since launch… and was greeted with a kind &

sour e-mail from Toulouse’s ( 4th most populated French city) Mayor regretting not to have been

featured in the project.

While just as many women as men have changed the course of French history, the vast majority of sculptures in French urban spaces (squares, gardens, and streets) only honor male figures.

French sociologist Christel Snitter wrote that “since 1870, only 37 statues out of 350 erected in

Paris commemorate women”. Through “March 8, 8 Women” Snap AR Studio has hopefully

contributed to balance this fact, and advocate Equity not only in Paris but in France… before

contributing to shedding a light to great women globally in 2024?

Through this innovative experience installed in 8 cities in France, we want to pay tribute to 8

women who have changed French history and society through their actions, their writings, or their

positions. Thanks to Snap's augmented reality technologies, we were able to celebrate those 8

women by building their statues in the public space by placing them alongside statues of men. By

establishing a silent dialogue between these historical figures, our wish is to raise public

awareness of the fight for women's rights.

To design this outstanding augmented reality experience, AR Studio Paris teamed up with French

Women’s Rights advocate and influencer Aude Gogny-Goubert, drew inspiration from academic

essays (Women & cities, Presses universitaires François-Rabelais, 2004), and requested the

patronage of SnapWomen EMEA, a Snap’s Employee Representative Group supporting Equity. An all female panel vetted the 8 female historical figures (and their male counterpart), from more than twenty curated candidates.

A team dedicated to the project within AR Studio Paris, including a female 3D artist and a female AR engineer, conceived, sculpted the statues and developed the interactivity, in order to bring these augmented reality experiences to life and offer representations of these women as close to reality as possible.

These augmented reality statues are installed next to the physical statues of their male counterparts -hence creating a silent dialogue between two historical figures, a male & a female, a physical & a virtual, both having lived in the same era, walked similar fields, achieved close successes.

The AR experience “March 8, 8 Women” has been available since March 8, 2023, sharing, with

Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, Metz and Nantes citizen and visitors, 8

permanent virtual monument exclusively available on Snapchat… thus building momentum to

advocate Equity across France.

The AR experience was amplified with a social and communication campaign, brand

ambassadors, city council support, and local events on selected cities. “March 8, 8 Women”

gathered 77 national and local press coverages on March 8th (highest PR coverage for Snap

France), engaged 125 000 snapchat France users since launch… and was greeted with a kind &

sour e-mail from Toulouse’s ( 4th most populated French city) Mayor regretting not to have been

featured in the project.

The AR experience “March 8, 8 Women” has been available since March 8, 2023, sharing, with

Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, Metz and Nantes citizen and visitors, 8

permanent virtual monument exclusively available on Snapchat… thus building momentum to

advocate Equity across France.

What's next :

The 8 french statues are permanent.

3D and Design Schools can now use the template to create other women historical figures.

Next year other European cities are going to deploy their virtual statues.