Q&A with Raid Saad Al-Otaibi: Meet The Snap’s Middle East Cultural Lensathon Winners

The Middle East Cultural Lensathon was more than just another AR challenge. In partnership with the Snap team, our goal was to spotlight the region’s rich and diverse culture, offering AR creators the opportunity to share their heritage, stories, and history with the world.

Having celebrated their work and the stories they brought to life, it’s now time to shift the spotlight onto the creators themselves. Behind every Lens is a talented and imaginative mind, and we’re proud to provide a platform that not only supports their creations but also brings their voices closer to the AR community.

Each week, we’ll be introducing one of the winners of the Middle East Cultural Lensathon, exploring their inspirations, experiences, and creative journeys for the future.

Today, we’re excited to introduce Raid Saad Al-Otaibi, whose AR Lens, من قصص التراث (From the Stories of Heritage), earned 2nd place in the Middle East Cultural Lensathon.

📸 About the Lens:

This Lens brings a children’s story to life through an interactive AR experience. Playful and immersive, it invites young users to step inside the tale, combining storytelling with vibrant animations and interactive features for a magical, hands-on adventure.

More than just entertainment, the Lens encourages curiosity for cultural stories, highlighting the power of interactive, digital narrative.

Please introduce yourself!

I am Raid Saad Al-Otaibi from Saudi Arabia. I started creating Augmented Reality Lenses a while ago to use myself, but I then focused on creating more varied types of Lenses after attending the AR Roadshow in Snap Riyadh this year.

What inspired your winning Lens?

I have always loved the colorful drawings and inspiring stories from kids’ books, but I felt it’s limited. So, I thought making it as a Snapchat Lens, would make it more alive and interactive. And parents can use their iPads to show their kids the story and see themselves inside it.

What technical challenges did you face, and how did you solve them?

Not technical challenges, but many obstacles that consumed my time, mainly because I developed each chapter of the story for the Lens separately, then when I wanted to combine them all in one Lens, it was very difficult, but I was able to get help from my fellow creators, and guided me on how to compress it.

How would you describe the style of your Lenses?

I love to create fun Lenses with interactivity with the user’s head or hand. Thanks to the excellent tools in Snap’s Lens Studio allowed me to achieve that.

What’s the best part of being in the Lens Creator Community?

What I loved about the community is that they are encouraging and willing to help, especially after that, I indicated in the recent workshop in Riyadh that I am interested in creating more advanced Lenses.

What are your next plans with Lens Studio – any upcoming projects or features you’re excited to try?

Yes, I’m happy to announce that I am working on a new part of my winning Lens and thinking of making it a season-based release just like a TV-series!

Raid’s journey is a great example of how creativity, persistence, and community support can transform simple ideas into meaningful AR experiences. His من قصص التراث Lens not only entertains but also preserves and reimagines cultural narratives for a new, digital-first generation.

We can’t wait to see how his upcoming projects continue to blend storytelling with innovation and bring even more magic to the AR community.

Thank you to Raid Saad Al-Otaibi, and congratulations on becoming one of the winners of the Middle East Cultural Lensathon! 👏

👉See the full list of Middle East Cultural Lensathon winners here.

Looking for more inspiration and ways to monetize your AR projects? 👀 Visit our Challenges Page to discover exciting opportunities and showcase your creativity.