Snap is holding its annual Lens Fest event immediately, the place it’s already offered a variety of recent insights into key AR advances, and the way Snapchat is aligning with the following digital connectivity shift.
Snap has additionally shared a variety of recent AR utilization stats and notes on the occasion. You’ll have the ability to tune into all of the Lens Fest periods on-demand here, however on this publish, we’ll check out a number of the key bulletins and updates.
First off, Snap says that the usage of AR for buying can be on the rise, with greater than 250 million Snapchatters participating with AR buying Lenses since January 2021.
Commerce is a key space of alternative for Snap, and with folks more and more trying in direction of digital items, Snap’s additionally seeking to merge in new choices, like buying digital clothing for your Bitmoji avatar, which might kickstart an all new cost ecosystem inside its app.
And it will kind one other aspect – Snap’s introduced a brand new AR experiment which can see a small group of creators and builders engaged on new Lenses that may embody paid add-on components, like different presentation codecs and digital enhancements.
For instance, with the primary Lens above – Potato Lens creator Phillip Walton says that users have asked for ways to enhance or upgrade the Lens with alternate variations. Now, underneath Snap’s new initiative, Walton can cost customers Snap Tokens to offer new outfits, so you’ll be able to flip the potato right into a police officer, a magician and extra, whereas additionally funding new innovation and growth.
Which may appear ridiculous to some – why would somebody pay for a brand new outfit for a digital potato? However with 250 million customers participating with Snap’s AR components on daily basis, there might be some inside that who might be eager to pay for AR enhancements and additional options.
Get these additions proper, and it may very well be a giant winner – and if Snap can get extra customers spending extra Snap Tokens, that might be one other step in direction of constructing an extra income stream, each for creators and Snap itself.
Snapchat has additionally reported that its broader AR ecosystem is increasing, with over 300,000 AR creators and builders participating, contributing to greater than 3 million AR Lenses through its creation instruments.
That’s facilitating all new enterprise alternatives – for instance, Snap says that LA-based AR studio Paper Triangles generated near $4 million in 2021 alone by constructing Lenses for manufacturers like Sephora and Crocs. Snap additionally notes that numerous large manufacturers are actually seeking to rent AR expertise.
That is more and more going to be an space of demand. As Meta seems to usher within the metaverse, and extra immersive digital environments grow to be a extra frequent aspect of how we work together, each platform goes to wish builders, and inventive minds that may formulate fascinating, participating AR and VR experiences.
AR instruments are one other step in direction of this, whereas the event of AR glasses will even facilitate all new connective use circumstances with extra immersive digital experiences.
On that entrance, Snap didn’t actually share something new about its AR Spectacles, but it surely did notice that:
“Over the past two years, hundreds of developers from 30 countries have experimented with our AR Spectacles, building hundreds of Lenses right in Lens Studio – from learning to read music to saying what constellation you want to see.”
Snap is actively engaged on AR Spectacles, although they continue to be a means off, however experiments like this spotlight the probabilities, and what you’ll be able to count on to see from Snap within the close to future.
So as to preserve fueling its AR growth, Snap has additionally introduced a brand new ‘Lensathon’ occasion, which can see creators compete for a $200K prize pool. The occasion might be open from now till January thirty first, and can encourage AR creators to ‘push what’s doable in AR’.
It’s fascinating to notice the assorted AR improvements and advances we’re seeing, and what they could imply for the way forward for connectivity. Snap has made AR a spotlight for that reason, and it stays a pacesetter within the AR area, regardless of having considerably fewer sources than its a lot bigger rivals.
The subsequent query, at the very least on the AR entrance, is when will AR glasses arrive? Which nobody appears to know for positive, however they’re coming, and after they do, I’d guess that Snap’s AR choices for AR gadgets might be considerably higher than what’s offered by others within the area, be it Apple or Meta, or another person.
Snap is aware of tradition, it is aware of artwork, and it is aware of methods to work with creators to facilitate next-level experiences within the area.
That can maintain Snap in good stead, and will see it grow to be a key platform for the following stage.
