In today’s dynamic attractions landscape, augmented reality (AR) technology is emerging as a solution for the gap between entertainment experiences and active engagement. With many attractions now reliant on guests’ smartphones for wayfinding, food and beverage orders, and other activities, AR has the potential to take engagement via smartphone a step further, allowing visitors to participate in—and shape—the environments they are immersed in.
Kirin Sinha brings this vision to life by enhancing physical environments with digital flair. Standing squarely at the forefront of the evolving intersection of technology and entertainment, the CEO and founder of AR company Illumix—which Sinha launched in 2017 at 24 years old—offers AR infrastructure that bridges the digital and physical worlds. The company also provides attractions a desirable layer of digital interactivity, giving owners and operators the opportunity to lead the pack as the global attractions industry explores the enhancement of storytelling through AR.
Funworld sat down with Sinha to discuss the growth of AR, developing a successful company, and her advice to members of the attractions industry.
An Operating System for the Real World
Sinha encourages attractions professionals who are unfamiliar with AR to think of the technology as a digital layer for the real world that can be applied at any venue. These experiences can be personalized to add a special touch to a guest’s experience.
On a visitor’s birthday, their favorite character could wish them a happy birthday by leveraging the birth date connected to their account. Alternatively, an attraction could display a digital welcome banner to elicit delight from first-time visitors. Illumix tailors AR experiences to meet the varying experience levels and expectations of clients.
“We can work with you by providing our SDK (software development kit)…and we can even handle the content if the client prefers,” explains Sinha. “Think about it like a Google Calendar or Google Maps in terms of how easy it is to adjust and customize the digital layer. For example, during October, you may want Halloween seasonal content, or you may want to sync certain AR experiences to timed park events.”
Entering the Attractions Market
Illumix was able to elevate its presence in the attractions industry early in the company’s history with the viral success of its Five Nights at Freddy’s AR game, which received more than 40 million downloads and 300 million digital-physical interactions. The attention garnered by the game brought the company into the spotlight of an entertainment market ripe with possibility. “I think that data and that success, that scalability, was what enabled us to ultimately participate in the Disney Accelerator,” shares Sinha.
The Disney Accelerator is a business development program that admits six to 10 venture-backed startups with a focus on technology and entertainment each year—providing participants with investment capital and mentor support from top Disney executives. Participation in the program provided a valuable visibility boost to Illumix, as well as an opportunity to work directly with the Walt Disney Company.
“The Disney Accelerator was absolutely the kind of thing that put us on the map for themed entertainment,” says Sinha. “In doing the mobile game, we saw that the technology could go so much further if we actually had a known space or venue. And we could make that experience even more immersive.”
Illumix participated in the Disney Accelerator program in 2021. “It was such a great learning experience,” shares Sinha. “On a personal level, the passion for storytelling and technology—I don’t know that there’s any other company on the planet that blends those two elements together better than the Walt Disney Company. And so, I think that the match in ethos, as well as the potential of what this technology can do for the theme park industry at large, put us in a great position for where we are today.”
Immediately following Illumix’s involvement in the program, the company began exploring opportunities to bring their AR technology to Disney Parks.
Augmented Reality Applications
Sinha is optimistic about the abundance of AR possibilities within the attractions industry. While she sees the value offered by sets and physical experiences, she also recognizes an opportunity to better engage with the younger generations visiting theme parks and attractions.
“We have all of these physical spaces,” Sinha says, but adds, “they’re not always digitally activated in some kind of way. For us, the big consumer trend that has shifted dramatically over the last five, 10, 15 years is the mobile phone. And especially as we look at generational shifts, we are living for the first time ever in a world where the majority of the population is ‘digital native,’ the kind of Gen Z millennial that grew up with a phone in their hands.”
She believes the demographics of theme park visitors lean even further in favor of smartphones. With this knowledge in mind, Illumix works to enhance storytelling by animating the environment surrounding guests via smartphone, rather than serving as a distraction.
“How can we leverage the phone in a way where they’re actually using it to better engage? What are the opportunities that digital gives us in physical experiences that we haven’t been able to explore before?” asks Sinha.
She also notes the value of integrating AR into attractions and destinations of all kinds. Attractions do not have to be as advanced in their storytelling journey as a major theme park to benefit from digital storytelling. By intertwining AR with existing attractions, facilities without intellectual properties (IP) may benefit from unprecedented growth.
“We have been working with a variety—everything from [attractions] with really well-known IPs to those without as much IP—who are looking to add that story layer into their venue,” shares Sinha. “And frankly, to use a digital layer in a different way, not just for guest engagement and social virality, but also as a way to potentially drive new revenue.”
Illumix is currently partnering with a major hospitality group focusing on the resort side of their business. The goal is to elevate revenue at leisure destinations while bringing engaging digital experiences to vacationers.
Early Inspirations
Sinha’s ascent to entrepreneurial success in the tech world can be attributed to a combination of lifelong passions and optimal timing.
“From the beginning, I loved mathematics,” she shares. “I think that a lot of people think about it as very structured and rote and boring, but to me, when you’re really deep in it, it can be intensely creative. And I think it opens this incredible path to all of STEM. For me, it was computer science and artificial intelligence, and all of these things that were picking up speed as I was growing up in the field.”
Sinha went on to receive a degree in electrical engineering, computer science, and mathematics from MIT. She also holds advanced degrees in mathematics, statistics, and business from the University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, and Stanford. While in graduate school, Sinha reached an epiphany during a key shift in the tech landscape—opening the door for Sinha to intertwine her multidisciplinary interests.
“I think for a long time, I really viewed it as STEM, math, AI—that’s my career ... and storytelling, going to these parks and experiences, where it’s just a personal passion,” Sinha explains. “Because of the shift in technology, because of the shift in user behavior, there’s an opportunity to actually leverage what I was seeing in the technical space in what I was most passionate about, which is, ‘How do we make people protagonists in these stories?’”
Building a Successful Company
When Sinha committed to Illumix full time after years of developing its AR product, she began a rigorous process examining if the company would be viable. From user testing to exploring potential use cases, Sinha conducted extensive—and sometimes unconventional—research.
“I created tons of different things. And we put them all over Reddit groups. I’ve been perma-banned from Reddit and a bunch of websites because of what I used to do,” jokes Sinha. “I actually got ejected from several malls for solicitation because I was trying to get people to try augmented reality for the first time and see how users liked it and responded.”
Sinha persevered. Today, as a supplier serving the attractions industry, she prepares for pitch meetings using a set of questions she dubs “the big three things” which enhance an idea’s appeal in the eyes of prospective investors: “Why is this product interesting or different? Why is now the right moment in the market for them to invest? Why are you the only person on the planet that can execute this properly?”
Sinha believes that if an individual has a strong opinion on the three questions—and can articulate them clearly—that it is possible to build a business from an idea or product.
Sinha was successful in her approach to sharing the story of Illumix with investors as the company worked to get off the ground. “We were, I think, fortunate to have one of the big VCs (venture capitalists) in Silicon Valley get excited about the product early and write us fairly large checks—our first check into the business was over $1.5 million, which is, I think, fairly unusual.”
However, Sinha generally encourages burgeoning companies to take advantage of angel investors. “I think for most entrepreneurs, what I would recommend—and what I do for any companies that I mentor—is that going with angels can be really valuable early on, because those people also become almost references and connectors for you.”
Breaking Glass Ceiling(s)
As a young CEO, a woman, and a person of color, Sinha is acutely aware of the ways her intersectional identities have affected her journey navigating the tech industry.
“No one handed me anything ever. It was always me running up and having to just take it, and take that opportunity. And I think the reality of that is, you have to get really comfortable with rejection,” emphasizes Sinha. “I think that’s true of any entrepreneur. But certainly, if you’re in one of those categories, people are going to look at you with more doubt and more scrutiny, and expect more evidence behind you to give you the same opportunity they might give to somebody else.”
While the days of begging mall shoppers to test her AR product are behind her, the lessons learned along the way continue to reap rewards.
“In getting through that, and being able to run into the brick wall over and over again until finally something budged—that is a painful process. But in doing that, you develop a lot of the skills you need to actually be successful as an entrepreneur. You have to be really resilient, you have to be willing to work incredibly hard, you have to be willing to create the opportunities that, ultimately, you take advantage of,” Sinha shares.
What’s Next
With a gleam in her eye, Sinha says she is eager to watch Illumix grow in 2024. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so optimistic and excited about a year as I feel about 2024,” she comments.
With many of Illumix’s long-term client projects still in progress last year, 2024 will mark the first time that a large quantity of digital consumers can experience Illumix’s AR experiences at destinations and attractions. As trends around digital consumption in entertainment continue to accelerate, Sinha sees no signs of stopping.
“As we see more and more people jump into what’s ultimately going to be the standard in the future, I would not be surprised at all if in 24 months, [AR] is an expected part of how consumers engage in physical experiences.”
