A year-long programme for artists, thinkers, coders, designers, makers, storytellers, and the curious. Applications open soon and close 30 September 2025.
At a glance
The Spectacles Programme is an exciting opportunity running alongside your RCA studies, designed to explore socially engaged and critically informed approaches to augmented reality (AR). Participants will learn from experts, get exclusive access to Snap’s experimental AR glasses, and collaborate across disciplines to develop responsible, real-world applications for immersive technologies.
This is a project-based programme where students work in multidisciplinary teams to design, prototype, and present original AR experiences over the course of the academic year. You will also learn from experts in the fields of accessibility, sustainability, social good, and XR storytelling, alongside technical teaching from Snap.
Offered as a free, supplementary opportunity alongside your main studies at the RCA, the programme of lectures, workshops and drop-ins are designed to complement your existing timetable without conflicting with core academic commitments.
Students will be expected to develop a project for public exhibition. During the first term, most weeks will include half-day workshops. In terms two and three, the workshop schedule is much lighter to allow time for project development alongside your core academic commitments.
Who can apply
The Spectacles Programme is open to RCA 2025/26 MA, MFA and MPhil/PhD students.
We encourage expressions of interest from people with diverse backgrounds & experiences, and you don’t need to have specific technical skills to participate in this project.
Previous years of the programme have been heavily oversubscribed, so we ask that only those who are ready to fully engage over the entire year apply.
Application deadline
Applications open in early September and the deadline is 12 noon GMT on Tuesday, 30 September, 2025.
Accessibility
If this page or the application is not accessible to you, please email us to request an audio or video expression of interest instead:
[email protected].
Key details
More information
RCA x Snap Inc.
RCA x Snap Inc. is a year-long programme bringing Royal College of Art students together with leading artists, researchers and XR professionals to explore the potential uses and implications of Augmented Reality technologies with Snap Inc.
RCA x Snap Augmented UnRealities
The RCA x Snap Augmented UnRealities programme is a dynamic and interdisciplinary collaboration between the Royal College of Art (RCA) and Snap, one of the principal innovation companies in the field of augmented reality (AR).
