From immersive history lessons and environmental storytelling to playful AR journeys grounded in real places, the Real-World Impact Challenge invited developers around the world to build meaningful WebAR experiences using Niantic Studio. These winning projects showcase the creative power of AR to preserve culture, promote education, and inspire community action.

These are the projects that had the most impact on our judges:

🥇 Gaussian Splat Grand Prize

Medellín Colors by Libardo Martinez Durango

A powerful narrative AR experience rooted in transformation and cultural preservation. Using Gaussian splats to capture and immortalize symbolic spaces, this project tells a story of how art and community have replaced violence in Medellín, Colombia. Built collaboratively with local residents, the project turns AR into a tool for peacebuilding and memory.

🥇 VPS Grand Prize

Nydia: The Blind Flower Girl by Irina Fawcett

Step into ancient Pompeii and witness the story of Nydia unfold in real time. Anchored to a real-world statue using Niantic VPS and Gaussian splats, this beautifully detailed experience uses audio narration, spatial sound, and interactive UI to create a fully immersive historical moment, blending education and emotion.

🌱 Most Inspiring Prize Winners

Royal Garden Rescue by Adrian Majewski
An eco-adventure set in Warsaw’s Royal Łazienki Park. Players clean up virtual litter, sort it into bins, and explore cultural landmarks using Niantic VPS and Niantic Maps. It’s part scavenger hunt, part sustainability mission—transforming environmental care into an engaging, real-world game.

Echoes of Anne by gdvinteractive
A quiet, reflective experience at the Anne Frank Monument in Amsterdam. Using AR to share excerpts from Anne’s diary, this project invites users to listen, remember, and reflect in a space designed for empathy and connection—not as an archive, but as a personal moment of remembrance.

🎨 Most Creative Prize Winners

ARtag by 0xVIZION
Tag a Parisian alley—without the cleanup. Bringing a part of urban French culture to WebXR, this playful experience drops users into a splatted street where they can create and view virtual street art, blending real urban textures with imaginative expression in a safe, legal canvas.

 

Unlock the Library: Discoveries Inside by Beatriz Junquera
Step inside a virtual reading room and search for hidden objects in this cozy, narrative-driven experience. Designed as part of a two-part WebAR journey, this library-themed adventure invites users to interact, explore, and unlock a surprise by completing the mission.

🔧 Best Technical Execution Prize Winners 

The Hidden Shrine by Alex Di Guida
A stunning blend of interactive storytelling and WebAR precision. With a Gaussian splat of a real Japanese shrine and a built-in AI chat companion, users can walk through history, ask questions, and explore spiritual landmarks through a beautifully crafted interface.

Kinetoscope Parlor by Peter L
An homage to early cinema, this WebAR recreation of a vintage kinetoscope parlor outside the real world site of Thomas Edison's Black Maria studio. Using Niantic VPS to anchor virtual film viewers outside the historic building, it invites users to explore the origins of film through interactive, genre-specific short videos.

🌍 Most Impactful Prize Winners 

Further Inn by Netherstory
An educational game about inequality. Using portals and Gaussian splats, players step into different rooms that represent social outcomes across the globe—highlighting the power of immersive storytelling to drive empathy and understanding.

Save Earth Notes by Adrian Majewski
A collaborative Earth-shaped message board for climate action. Using VPS and a custom backend, users can add digital notes to a physical globe, sharing sustainability ideas. It's a living WebAR installation powered by community and purpose.

🎖 Honorable Mentions

• Welcome to the Wave Organ by Bingkoland
• Route AR by Dean Fitrah 
• z38 Health: Mindful Steps by Daniel Schwarz
• Too Hot for Yokai by 321Ken

Congratulations to all our winners and community contributors! These projects reflect the future of immersive storytelling—where culture, creativity, and real-world impact converge. Want to build something for the next game jam? Join the community on Discord and start creating with Niantic Studio.

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