Chinese New Year is one of the most vibrant and meaningful celebrations of the year—rich with colour, symbolism and family traditions. For hotels and restaurants, it’s also a wonderful chance to create festive moments that delight guests, encourage social sharing and strengthen your brand story. Augmented Reality (AR) lenses make this even easier by turning familiar traditions into fun and interactive experiences.
Whether you're looking to spark joy in the lobby, enhance the dining experience or engage kids with modern twists on classic rituals, these 8 AR lens ideas offer an easy way to turn your property into a festive playground.
1 - Feed the Lion, Bring in the Fortune
Bring the excitement of a traditional lion dance into your lobby or dining room through an augmented reality (AR) lens that allows guests to become part of the performance. In this festive photo opportunity, users can hold out a virtual hong bao to “feed” the "virtual" lion. In response, the lion drops or rolls out a good fortune message from its mouth, adding a delightful twist inspired by authentic lion dance traditions.
2 - Become the God of Wealth (for a Day)
Invite guests to transform into Caishen, the God of Wealth, using a celebratory face filter that includes a regal headdress, fluttering mini ingots, and a glowing aura of prosperity. This lens is perfect for selfies and social sharing, allowing guests of all ages to become charming symbols of abundance. It’s a delightful way to enhance festive photo moments while seamlessly incorporating your hotel or restaurant branding into the holiday spirit.
3 - Red Packets That Come Alive
Transform your property's custom hong baos into magical keepsakes by adding an augmented reality (AR) layer. Guests can scan the physical red packets and animations will come to life—such as dancing dragons, floating gold coins and prosperity messages unique to your brand. This approach turns a traditional giveaway into an immersive experience that guests will remember and share. It also encourages families to collect your hong baos as seasonal souvenirs.
4 - Find Out Your Zodiac Fortune
This lens adds a playful twist to traditional zodiac predictions by turning them into a fun, personalised photo moment. Guests select their zodiac sign, and AR reveals an illustrated panel of this year's auspicious fortunes—health, relationships, career, or travel. Once their fortune appears, guests can snap a selfie with it, creating a meaningful keepsake they’ll love sharing on social media.
5 - Toss a Virtual Yu Sheng
Bring Singapore and Malaysia’s iconic lo hei ritual to life with an AR experience that guides guests through each meaningful step. Before the virtual toss begins, users add digital versions of the key condiments crackers, spices and sauces—while short captions explain the symbolic blessings behind each ingredient. Once everything is “added,” guests shake or move their phones to toss the yu sheng, triggering colourful animations and auspicious phrases swirling around them.
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6 - The Ultimate Red Packet Chase
This fast-paced AR mini-game showers guests with red packets they can “catch” by moving their heads. Each successful catch can trigger a burst of gold coins. Ideal for younger guests, it’s a fun lobby activation that encourages replay—and can even be linked to real rewards such as dessert vouchers or Kids Club stickers.
7 - Festive Zodiac Scavenger Hunt
Transform your property into a festive discovery trail with an augmented reality (AR) scavenger hunt featuring all 12 zodiac animals. Guests will search for hidden images of each zodiac animal placed around the hotel or restaurant. By scanning these images with their devices, they will reveal fun facts and blessings about each zodiac animal. As they collect each animal, their progress will fill a digital zodiac chart. Once all 12 animals have been found, guests can unlock a final reward screen to claim a small prize.
8 - Ignite the Red Lanterns of Good Fortune
This cozy, atmospheric lens fills the screen with floating red lanterns that respond to the guest’s gestures. By simply raising their eyebrows, guests can illuminate each lantern one by one, creating a gentle, glowing scene that builds with every movement. Once all the lanterns are lit, the lens transforms into a warm, festive backdrop—ideal for capturing a memorable Chinese New Year selfie.
Turning Celebrations Into Shareable Stories: The Future of Festive Guest Engagement
Chinese New Year is a time for joy, celebration, and meaningful connections. Augmented Reality (AR) can provide hotels and restaurants with a straightforward yet powerful way to enhance these experiences. By combining cultural traditions with engaging digital storytelling, establishments can create memorable moments that guests are eager to capture, share, and revisit.
Whether utilised in lobbies, dining areas, guest rooms or social media channels, these AR lenses transform festive touch points into immersive experiences that strengthen your hotel's brand identity and delight families of all ages.
Let Us Help You Get Started
Piqolo Labs is launching a Service to Delivery AR for Hospitality.
We can help you build the AR lenses mentioned above. Be among the first to bring Augmented Reality (AR) to your hotel, restaurant or attraction — without the high cost or production headaches. We love to hear from you!
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Wan Tsau
Wan Tsau
Wan Tsau
