Snapchat has been one of the most popular social media and instant messaging apps for several years. One of the major reasons why Snapchat has stayed in the public eye is due to AR lenses (filters) and of course, the streaks. We all maintain streaks, don’t we?
While the app’s AR lens library has been growing, not many know that Snaphat’s parent company Snap has its very own community dedicated to AR lenses.
In fact, it has its own programs and solutions for aspiring creators and businesses. Some time back, Snap partnered with Tiffany & Co., a US-based jewellry company, to offer an exclusive AR Try-On experience of products from Tiffany’s catalog.
More recently, it unveiled ARES (AR Enterprise Services) to offer AR solutions to enterprises.
Having said that, Snap appears to be serious about AR, with plans to maximize the usage of AR lenses in both the consumer and business sectors.
We at Techlusive interviewed Snap’s Global Head of AR Developer Relations, Joe Darko, to get more insights about Snap’s AR framework.
From Snap’s AR evolution to the making of AR filters on its Lens Studio app, we’ve gathered some significant information.
What does Snap’s AR landscape and ecosystem look like?
To get a clear perspective of Snap’s focus on AR, we asked Joe to explain the company’s AR landscape and ecosystem.
“So what we consider Snap AR is a factor of products and programs. We have products like Lens Studio and light camera kits.”
Lens Studio is the AR platform that AR developers or creators use to build lenses for Snapchat, and beyond. The light camera kits comprise products like Snap’s Spectacles.
On the program side, Joe said that there’s Snap’s lens network. The snap lens network is a network of AR creators, AR developers, and AR partners, who primarily use Lens Studio to create AR experiences, whether for business or for entertainment.
Then there’s the Ghost program.”So think of it as a program, which supports AR developers to push the boundaries of what’s possible in AR and create app-like experiences using the lens studio.”
There’s also a spectacles program, which is a program to give developers the chance to leverage the spectacles dev kit, which is spectacles, to create AR experiences for the future of wearables.
How has Snap evolved in the AR field and what’s the future like?
Snap has been growing in the AR field quite rapidly and so we asked about the AR evolution at Snap and the future of AR.
“Eight years ago, we launched ‘lenses’, which is pretty much an AR product. And a lot of people on Snapchat, when they look at a Snap, they think of you know, AR right, because that’s where they got the dog ear filters.”
“But now when you really look at it, all these fun experiences are being advanced because of the capabilities of Lens Studio, which powers Snapchat. Now it’s no longer about the fun experiences. It’s about utility experiences. So it’s moved from toys to products, fun play experiences to more utility experiences. And that is the future of AR.”
How Snap AR is helping consumers and businesses, practically?
Since AR has evolved from being a playful experience to a more utility experience, we asked how Snap AR is helping consumers and businesses.
Joe responded that Snap provides its own SDK (Software development kit). SDK brings Snap camera into other apps, allowing businesses to bring AR experiences that benefit both the consumers and the business.
For instance, Snap partnered with MyGlamm, Sugar Cosmetics, and Flipkart in India last year. With the help of Snap’s camera SDK, buyers of MyGlamm and Sugar cosmetics were able to get try-on experiences (although on beta).
So without getting the products at home, buyers were able to try makeup products, which saved time and also saved costs for the business (since there was no transit).
Flipkart as well ran a campaign (Super brand, Super Price, Super Fast) in partnership with Snap, where an AR filter was created that helped the e-commerce platform get a massive reach. It also helped Flipkart advertise its shopping app.
How Snap AR separates itself from the competition?
Since Meta and other companies are also exploring AR capabilities, we asked how Snap separates itself from the rest of the competition.
“I would like to touch base on three main or four main parts of the let’s say, Lens Studio and what actually separates us from our competitors. So first and foremost is the AR capabilities of Lens Studio. To me, when we talk to AR developers from our perspective, Lens Studio has various capabilities, and high-end features, which enable people to build AR experiences across many verticals, or use cases like games, shopping, education, and entertainment, right, for instance now one of our latest features is ray tracing.”
One of the many things Snap’s doing to separate itself from the competition and to stand out is the Ray-tracing feature for AR. This would help in AR gaming with the help of products like Spectacles, hopefully.
How big is the Snap AR community?
“We have about 300,000 creators in our AR ecosystem who build about 3 million lenses.”
Joe also stated that the creator community is growing across the world and signaled that many Indian creators are on the rise. He further said that Snap’s India AR creators community grew by 60 percent in 2022.
Who can join Snap’s AR community and Snap Lens network (SLN)?
Pretty much everyone who’s fond of Snap’s AR filters or lenses can start making lenses on the Lens Studio app. That’s how easily anyone can join Snap’s AR community.
Once someone starts making lenses (filters) on Snap’s Lens Studio app, with the person’s skillsets, he could be able to join the Snap Lens network (SLN).
“Snap Lens network pretty much is like a program, which finds out who are these top AR creators, developers and partners in the ecosystem that we work with.”
How can Snap AR community members get their work monetized?
Snap AR community members can monetize their work, here’s how.
Joe said that Snap helps creators connect with businesses. So if there’s a project and you have the skillset, meaning you are a part of SLN, Snap may connect you with the business to make lenses (filters) for them. This will let the community members earn, basically a way of monetizing their work.
What about AR products?
When asked about the product side of AR, Joe hinted at why the recent Snap Spectacles 4 isn’t commercial.
Joe stated that Snap, behind the scenes, is testing the Spectacles 4 with developers to improve it. The company seems to test it’s first-gen AR glasses with developers and creators before making them commercial.
For the unversed, Snap’s Spectacles 1, 2, and 3 were all commercially available for purchase. However, Spectacles 4 isn’t available and there seems to be no plan of making it commercial anytime soon.
It is worth noting that Spectacles 4 is Snap’s first AR glasses, all glasses before this only offered the ability to take snaps with the help of the in-built camera.