thoughtful emerging technology.

We’re a studio shaped by curiosity and craft. From Santa Fe New Mexico, we collaborate with partners to build emerging technology experiences that are thoughtful, purposeful, and designed to support their next chapter.

OUR WORK

Meow Wolf: Portals

Open Web AR portals across New Mexico, powered by Niantic

Ready Care

Winner of the 2024 Lensathon, a Snap Spectacles experience that teaches you to use an EpiPen.

Ojos Diferentes

Santa Fe Artists and the City Historian team up to bring the cities stories to life

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“I’ve worked with Refract on three projects now, and each time I was able to push the boundaries of my artistic expression. I love working with them because they match my enthusiasm in creating something that has never been done before. Everything we’ve done has felt like an adventure and a communal exploration.”

-Ehren Kee Natay, Colaborating Artist

OUR CLIENTS

IKEA logo in black on a white background.
A panoramic view of a city skyline at sunset with tall buildings and a river in the foreground.
Black and white pixelated logo reading "DIESEL NOT INCLUDED" with the words "SINCE 2002" underneath.
Google logo in black outline on a white background.
An orange tabby cat sitting on a beige surface with a blurred background.
A close-up of a black cat and a black and white kitten lying together on a blue blanket.
A group of seven children, five boys and two girls, standing outdoors on a sidewalk. Some are holding objects like a soccer ball, a watering can, and a ladder. They are dressed casually, with some wearing T-shirts and shorts.
A close-up of a small dog with brown fur and black markings.
A young man with glasses and a gray t-shirt sitting on a yellow couch with a black and white dog on his lap. The background includes a white bookshelf filled with books, boxes, and decorative items, and two framed pictures on the white wall.
A woman with short dark hair smiling, wearing a sleeveless black top, against a plain pink background.
A person taking a photo of a colorful, bright display of pastel candy with a smartphone.

Award Winning

We’ve been lucky to pick up a few honors along the way, including wins at Lensathon, the MIT Reality Hack, and MIT Founders Lab, plus a Webby nomination and a Moonshot Award at Lens Fest.

Technology Innovation

We explore new technology with a playful, practical mindset, turning early ideas into intuitive experiences that feel good to use.

How We Started

Refract started when Lauren and Sam met as tech leads at Meow Wolf and realized they loved building weird, wonderful things together. They founded the studio in 2019 and have been exploring emerging tech ever since.

What We Do

  • From AR mobility aids to interactive learning experiences, we partner closely with clinicians and educators to turn complex skills into intuitive, confidence-building moments. Our health work has been recognized with wins at the MIT Reality Hack and MIT Founders Lab, reflecting our focus on solutions that are both innovative and genuinely useful.

  • We work with cities, cultural partners, and community groups to bring stories and public spaces to life. From large scale AR installations to interactive maps, websites, and murals, our projects help residents and visitors see their surroundings in new ways.

  • We come from immersive worlds: our founders built large-scale interactive experiences at Meow Wolf, and that perspective still guides our work. From physical digital installations to activations on the Las Vegas Strip, we create spaces and moments people genuinely want to explore.

  • We help teams explore new technologies in a way that feels collaborative. We’ve worked with innovation groups at IKEA, Google, Niantic, and Snap to prototype early concepts, test what’s possible, and quickly learn what’s worth building.