By Meta Careers
We recently sat down for a cup of coffee with software engineer Thomas to get the scoop on what it’s like to work on Facebook’s AR Studio team, and why he loves the innovative and challenging field of AR. And, since Thomas and his team start every morning with a cup of coffee, we naturally asked him to dish on his favorite type of java. Spoiler -- we found another oat milk enthusiast!
What were you doing before Facebook? What led you here?
Before I joined Facebook I lived in Germany, where I worked as a mobile software engineer at several German companies. A lot of the work I did was help them bridge the path to the digital world, by enabling connectivity between the products and mobile devices. But I was always interested in joining a digital-first company. An acquaintance had posted about an open position at Facebook, and I was very intrigued by what I learned. I thought, why not give it a go and apply? Facebook's Bootcamp was a fascinating experience to getting started at the company, and it jumpstarted my career.
Glad to hear you enjoyed Bootcamp! Can you tell us more about what that experience was like?
The entire Bootcamp experience is so cool. Those couple of weeks at the beginning of your Facebook journey are invaluable. You have a small class of people starting together, and it feels almost like a family. In fact, I’m still in touch with a lot of people from my class, and some have even become close friends. It’s helpful to have those connections so that if you run into problems you aren’t sure how to solve, you have a network of people to get advice from.
Bootcamp also allows you to learn about Facebook quickly, with the flexibility to decide which project you’re passionate about and the team you want to join. I knew I wanted to join the AR Studio team from the get-go, but I enjoyed learning about the other possibilities.
What are some of the things the AR Studio is focused on?
We build the tools that create AR experiences for people on Facebook, like camera effects that augment your face and the world around you, so people can show off their personality and share things in a more meaningful way. Essentially, we’re putting an AR device in everyone’s pockets, and that’s very rewarding.
There are complex algorithms making these augmented experiences possible, and we’re focused on making the tools easier and better to use for creators. It also becomes more complicated when you realize that these AR experiences reach over 2 billion people, many with different types of devices, and specific likes and dislikes. Addressing a diverse user base and enabling everyone to have a positive experience is a difficult challenge, but one I’m very passionate about.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Every day starts with coffee with my team - it has become a sort of small ritual. Most people are coming into the office at similar times, so we’ll all get together and just catch up on life. When I moved to London, I had never lived outside of Germany and I didn’t know anyone. I made a lot of friends through my teammates, so I really value this time together.
Once our morning coffee is complete, I typically get right to coding. I have a lot of responsibility as an engineer, with flexibility to work on things that I enjoy. While my role is mainly to code, I’m also working closely with other teams to form the full AR experience, so my work goes a little beyond that. I’m also thinking about the creative design, and how can we build and put it into code so that it’s accessible for creators.
One of the things I love most about working at Facebook is that we have so much agility. AR is still a fairly new technology, and it’s sometimes hard to know what’s right or wrong. At Facebook, we can move incredibly fast and quickly make decisions to move forward.
You mentioned you work with other teams at Facebook - how so?
My work touches several different teams. I work closely with creators to ensure they are able to develop the features they envision. I also work closely with the People AR team to help with AR effects that deal with facial tracking or retouching; with World AR, which does plane and target tracking, and tries to understand the world and environment around you; and the AR Engine team to ensure everything looks as it should.
One last question -- what’s your favorite coffee?
I always go for a cortado with oat milk!
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