"The next step beyond storytelling": Timothy Gunatilaka of Dentsu on how AR enables deeper connections

AR represents a new frontier for brands to connect with consumers in exciting and novel ways. To push the boundaries of what's possible in this emerging medium, Meta paired top creative agencies with advanced technical AR creators. In this Q&A series, the AR Proving Grounds, Meta Foresight sat with participating agencies to learn what it was like building in AR and working with creators.

For Timothy Gunatilaka, a creative director at global creative agency Dentsu, augmented reality (AR) opens a new, more immersive chapter in brand storytelling. Whereas traditional stories are passively consumed, AR makes people active participants. This dynamic opens up powerful new opportunities for brands to engage in two-way conversations and create immersive experiences that allow people to forge deeper connections with companies.

Gunatilaka saw this in action earlier this year when Dentsu partnered with a creator to develop an AR effect for semiconductor maker Intel. The innovative Instagram effect that they made was inspired by an assistive technology toolkit originally developed by Intel to help those with motor neuron conditions communicate, enabling people to actually experience writing messages with their facial movements.

Meta Foresight recently chatted with Gunatilaka about the effort, which was part of a Meta programme that paired top creative agencies with advanced technical AR creators. Gunatilaka spoke about how AR enables brands to tell complex stories in an approachable and participatory way, what it was like partnering with a creator to build an immersive and nuanced experience for Intel, and what he thinks the future holds for the technology.

Timothy Guanatilaka: I think AR is the next step beyond storytelling. When I first started as a social creative, everything was founded in pushing information or pushing the message. Then, it became about sharing stories and developing narratives. And now, this next stage is more about immersing people in an experience.

People don't want to be spoken at. They want a conversation; they want a two-way dialogue. And if a brand is able to communicate its core message in the process, then that's going to be more effective. AR is a really powerful technology to allow that conversation. That's what I mean by it being the next step; it's something that allows people to be participants rather than having the story wash over them.

TG: This amazing researcher at Intel, Lama Nachman, had worked to develop ACAT – a program that helps people with ALS and other motor neuron conditions communicate.

We'd told that story in different ways in the past, such as through videos, and when we were trying to think of an AR effect that Intel could do on Instagram and Facebook, we came back to it. We thought to ourselves: Could we recreate the ACAT experience? Could we make an effect based around facial gestures that activated something? Because, essentially, that's what an AR effect is, right? It's a small action creating a bigger action.

What was cool was that it was such a natural fit. We'd wanted to do more immersive experiences for some time, but we hadn't because we wanted a concept that really showed how Intel connects innovation and the real world. This was perfect because the ACAT technology had parallels to things that make AR experiences; it felt like such a natural and magical connection.

TG: We only had this kernel of an idea. We knew what we wanted to make, but getting there was a brave new world for myself and the team.

ACAT is a very specific technology that Intel created. Obviously, we wanted to honour that, but we also knew that we couldn't mirror the full experience. We had to figure out what we could do within the parameters of what was possible. That was a challenge, but also a thrill. And it was through working with AR creator, Charles "Ceej" Johnson that we figured out the guardrails; it was truly collaborative.

Watching his mind work from both a technical and aesthetic standpoint – how he married them almost seamlessly – was special. The way our agency and most traditional agencies are structured is pretty siloed: There's a distinction between coming up with the idea and actually executing or crafting it. This experience reminded me how it should not be as separated as it sometimes is. Charles married vision with the granular expertise to make that vision a reality, and we all probably need to evolve like that.

TG: As a creative, it expands what we get to play with. This is a very fortunate job where we still get to pretend and imagine; we're like kids playing with crayons. And AR lets us expand our crayon box. We're just beginning to understand what it is and what it can be. And so, diving into something that I don't know and trying to figure out creative solutions for what our clients want to do; that's the next challenge and that's really exciting.

As a consumer, the BS meter is pretty high – at least that's how I feel myself. I can't not be aware when I'm being advertised to. When AR is done well, it's possible to create experiences where you don't actively realise that someone is trying to sell you something. That's exciting because it allows people to forge truer and deeper connections with brands.

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