Nov 02, 2018

Selenators, Camilizers, Swifties, and more can vote for the year’s ‘Biggest Fans’ nominees with AR creations.

Augmented reality and virtual reality are often associated with images of tightly-fitted headsets, plastic guns, and fully immersive gaming environments. MTV showing how this technology holds enormous potential for engaging fans of live, televised events.

The network launched an AR social vote functionality within the 2018 MTV EMAs app on Thursday. The activation is the first time a global awards show has used AR in its voting process.

The app prompts fans to design gallery-style artwork of their favorite “Biggest Fans” nominee, which include BTS, Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendes, and Taylor Swift this year. Users can also share their work on social and use to submit their vote through the EMA app.

A Pattern of AR Play From MTV

Last year, the MTV EMA app used AR to allow fans to interact with the show’s live performances. The AR features were a hit—average time spent on the app was 8 minutes, and the pages within the app were viewed over 5.5 million times.

For the 2017 MTV VMAs, the brand worked with branded content studio Viacom Velocity to render 3D holograms of the MTV Moon Person within an AR app called Holo. Fans could download and add the 3D decals to short videos and photos within the Holo app.

The global market size for AR and VR technologies expected to reach nearly $95 billion by 2023. MTV’s continued experimentation with this relatively new technology shows how the brand is committed to finding new ways of interacting with fans in the digital age.

The MTV EMAs app is available for download now on iOS and Android devices in 11 languages. The award show, hosted by Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld, takes place in Bilbao, Spain, on Nov. 4.