Combining hypebeasts’ fandom of limited-edition drops and owning pair upon pair of coveted sneakers with accessibility and affordability, the AR-style Aglet app is letting the sneaker-obsessed get in-app versions of the shoes they love and crave without actually having to buy them.

Vaccination efforts and eased lockdowns enabled Americans to once again indulge in live events in 2021. But with COVID-19 stubbornly present, hedonism now comes with vaccination passports, while attitudes toward IRL socializing remain mixed. So what does the nightlife landscape now look like?

Snapchat and Twitter have reported record revenue and user growth – attributing it to AR and world events, respectively. Despite different reasons for the growth, what’s at the heart is the pandemic and the multitude of human needs that social media catered for whilst people sheltered in place.

Snap has released a customisable feature that will allow anyone to create and access location-locked AR overlays, blending reality with virtual experiences. The feature taps people’s need for communal experiences but also raises questions about the boundaries of public space access.