We’ve got something truly inspiring on the blog! Sam Guilmard, Digital Director at Playbound, shares how he introduced kids aged 12–16 to the magic of animation and augmented reality — using MyWebAR. From hand-painted flipbooks to interactive AR posters, this workshop turned creativity into immersive tech. Curious how it all came together in under an hour? Dive into the full story now!
Hello!
My name is Sam, and I’m the Digital Director at Playbound, an augmented reality (AR) studio based in Milton Keynes, England. At Playbound, we specialize in creating unique and memorable experiences for brands and individuals who want to engage their audience in new and exciting ways.
I recently had the opportunity to run a workshop using the AR tool MyWebAR, and I’d love to share why I think it’s a fantastic platform for developers, especially those new to augmented reality. But first, some background on the project that led me to this conclusion.
A Creative Workshop: From Flipbooks to AR Posters
A couple of months ago, I led a workshop at the Milton Keynes Arts Centre for children aged 12 to 16. The goal was to teach them the fundamentals of animation and, by the end of the week, work together to create a collaborative animation. We would then transform this animation into an augmented reality poster.
We kicked off the week by making flipbooks to help the children understand the basics of animation and how a series of still images can come to life through motion. Once everyone grasped the concept, we brainstormed animation ideas and settled on a simple yet beautiful concept: a bird in flight.
I created the outline of each frame in the animation and printed them out, leaving the children to bring them to life using any artistic medium they wanted. The results were incredible. Some used watercolours, others chose acrylics, and a few even used collage techniques to complete their frames.
Enter Augmented Reality
With all the frames complete, I scanned each one to build the final animation. Now came the exciting part, bringing it into AR!
Fortunately, MyWebAR made this step incredibly simple. Even though this wasn’t a technically complex project, I was able to build the AR experience in under an hour. MyWebAR provides a wide variety of templates for different types of AR experiences. In my case, I used the “AR on flat image” template.
All I had to do was upload the poster as the image to be tracked, and then upload the animation to appear once the image was detected. The process was intuitive and required no prior coding knowledge.
Another standout feature of MyWebAR is the ability to customize elements like the landing page, splash screen, and on-screen user interface. This is especially useful for brands looking to maintain consistency with their visual identity.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’d highly recommend MyWebAR to anyone interested in developing AR experiences. It’s accessible, affordable, and surprisingly powerful for quick-turnaround projects like this one.
If I had to sum up my experience in three words, they would be: easy, affordable, and extensive.
If you would like to try the experience out for yourself then please use this LINK and if you would like to watch my video where I discuss this project in more detail then click here:
