Nike celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. To honour that milestone, the brand looks into the past and future.

The brand has partnered with global creative company Buck to bring a WebAR experience to 11 of its stores around the world, including those in New York City, Paris, and Shanghai. The project aims to highlight the spirit of DNA (Department of Nike Archives) and support the future of storytelling within the retail space.

Visitors can unlock 11 augmented reality experiences with their smartphone. Each of these experiences is contained within a QR box designed to mimic frosted glass to heighten the AR reveal and entice users to engage with each story. Accented with orange rims, the boxes virtually open up when scanned with a smartphone, revealing an array of Nike artefacts that visitors can explore through gestures and display cues.

Throughout this activation, you can find 17 pieces from the Nike archive including vintage apparel, waffle-sole sneakers, and the iconic Mercurial cleats. As customers explore, they can learn more about Nike's range with in-depth descriptions, interactive augmented reality features and integrations with the virtual display that lets you take a closer look at the archival pieces in detail and from multiple angles.

To keep the artefacts seamlessly accessible alongside an augmented reality experience that integrates with real-time, Nike has collaborated with Buck to optimise a combination of 3D scanning, WebAR, and Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) technology. WebAR allows for lightweight AR experiences supported by a web browser or any modern smartphone, making augmented reality accessible to most users. SLAM enhances the display by spatially anchoring objects in front of the user, allowing them to walk around each Nike artefact as though it were truly present. Each feature brings a "crucial" sense of awe and immersion to the experience.

The WebAR experience is available to 11 of its retailers all around the world, including cities like New York City, Paris and Shanghai, aiming to embrace the spirit of DNA (Section of Nike Archives) and preserve the long term of storytelling within their retail space.