Augmented Reality Workshops & Hackathons: How Ricebox Studio Teaches AR
Ricebox Studio is a London-based creative studio that has delivered over 30 augmented reality workshops and hackathons, using storytelling and activism as the entry point into new technology.
Ricebox Studio uses design and creative technology for social good, with accessibility, diversity, and representation at the core of their work. Their educational strand TECHBOX is the only program in the UK to have developed and refined a workshop exploring augmented reality, storytelling, and activism in a beginner-friendly, non-competitive way. Built by self-taught AR practitioners with professional experience since 2020, TECHBOX exists to pass that knowledge on — prioritising participants from marginalised backgrounds, beginners with access needs, and anyone who wants to use AR to make a positive social impact.
"Having run over 30 creative tech workshops and hackathons through the lens of storytelling and activism, Artivive is by far the most accessible and beginner-friendly tool for teaching students the foundations of Augmented Reality. It empowers people to confidently explore new software and helps them bring their ideas to life!"— Safiya Ahmed, Co-founder of Ricebox Studio & Design and Outreach Director
How It Works
Every TECHBOX workshop follows the same core process - regardless of whether it runs for one hour or three days:
Context: Participants are introduced to the basics of AR and how it has been used in real-world storytelling and activism, with examples from practitioners across the industry.
Upskill: A 2D animation workshop using Photoshop is followed by a hands-on introduction to Artivive, so participants learn the tool within a meaningful creative context, not in isolation.
Experimentation: Time is set aside for 1-to-1 support, with participants applying what they've learned to their own ideas and existing work.
Wrap Up: Every participant leaves with a freely available guidebook retracing all the technical steps, so the learning continues beyond the session. In hackathon formats, teams pitch their final outcomes and are awarded an AR certificate acknowledging their new skills.
In longer hackathons, participants also cover design thinking, ideation, storyboarding, user journeying, audience research, and tackling implicit bias in visual design — skills directly transferable to the creative tech industry.
Here are some of the workshop and hackatlon highlights:
Digital Innovation Festival - Lethaby Gallery, King's Cross (2022): Invited by Central Saint Martins' Digital Innovation team, Ricebox taught 16–18 year olds to create AR posters using Artivive - including animated 3D motion-capture avatars - which were then exhibited publicly at Lethaby Gallery. They also ran an open drop-in session where members of the public made their own Artivive posters on the day using Canva.
Hack Your Reality - UAL (Shortlisted, UAL Knowledge Exchange Award 2022): Ricebox Studio's flagship three-day hackathon, where participants build AR experiences around real social issues using Artivive from start to finish.
What's Your Story - Racial Equality AR Hackathon: Delivered with Our Sisterhood, UAL, and the Arts Students' Union. Produced Find Me Among Them, an augmented reality book created through the three-day event.
New Parameters of Fashion and Design: An international AR hackathon reaching participants across the UK, Germany, the US, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.
Freedom 2 B - 4-Week AR Program: A longer-form program using Artivive to help secondary school girls explore online identity through augmented reality.
REIMAGINE NEWHAM - with DE KONZEPT × University of East London: A community AR project with work exhibited on billboards across East and West London.
