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There’s no longer a need to merely pull out a tape measure and visualize how a new dresser will fit in the corner of your bedroom. Instead, many online retailers have added augmented reality (AR) tools to their website — allowing users to hold their phone up to an empty wall space and “place” the dresser, bookshelf, or bar cart in that space before deciding to purchase.
But AR hasn’t just been added to online shopping websites. To revolutionize how content creators around the world explore, design, and play, social media platforms are developing their very own AR experiences. This includes Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, and most recently, TikTok.
One social media site even has plans for a “metaverse” that would allow people to socialize, work, and game together.
Lens Studio
More than 5 billion “Snaps” are created every single day, which makes the Snapchat camera one of the most used, according to Business Wire.
With the logo “Dream it. Build it,” Snap AR’s Lens Studio has more than 200,000 lens creators, developers, and partners, 2 million lenses, and more than 2 trillion lens views from its community of creators.
In May, Snapchat announced new AR tools and camera experiences, including shopping recommendations when scanning a friend’s outfit using Screenshop, recipe recommendations based on ingredients scanned through the Snapchat camera, and even a partnership with the LEGO Group that allows friends to work together to build with LEGO bricks.
Courtesy Snapchat
With new tools that detect body movement, users can try on clothing, glasses, purses, and more and literally say, “Show me a full-length jumpsuit,” to display the item on the Snapchat user’s body. Large scale, luxury retailers like Prada are already taking advantage of this tool that allows users to buy products directly on the platform.
Snapchat’s global product lead in AR Carolina Arguelles says the fashion industry is vastly important to the platform’s AR strategy: “We’re at a precipice where the adoption from users is already there because you have a powerful camera in the palm of your hand, and you’re using it to such a degree that it allows us to tackle shopping, with the advancements in this technology.”
Spark AR
Facebook (or Meta) and Instagram’s AR studio, coined “Spark AR,” doesn’t just include tools to create your own AR project — like importing sounds and images — but also tutorials, project examples, and a “Spark AR curriculum.”
This curriculum is meant to help users expand their skills and learn how to create AR effects. The platform encourages people to become “Spark AR creators,” and it includes video courses with step-by-step instructions on how to create and share AR effects on both platforms.
Courtesy Facebook
With easy-to-use tools, Facebook wants its AR Studio to make becoming a creator more accessible. Users do not have to know how to code to easily drag-and-drop custom animations into their curated scene, and Facebook even partnered with Sketchfab to develop a gallery of downloadable models to apply to specific projects.
Facebook’s Metaverse
In July, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announced plans for its “metaverse,” which would allow users to game, work, shop, and socialize using AR. The term metaverse, coined in the 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash, refers to a mix of physical, virtual, and augmented reality in one online space.
In a recent blog post, the company noted its need for highly specialized engineers to make the metaverse a reality in the next five years. And on October 18, Facebook announced plans to create 10,000 jobs in the European Union to continue its development of the company’s metaverse.
“At its heart is the idea that by creating a greater sense of ‘virtual presence,’ interacting online can become much closer to the experience of interacting in person,” the blog post reads. “The metaverse has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social and economic opportunities.”
No single company will run the metaverse, according to Facebook; rather it will be an “embodied internet” and operated by many people to retain its “openness and interoperability.” On October 28, Facebook announced that it had officially changed its company name to Meta to “reflect the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media.”
Effect Studio
In August, TikTok announced its own plans to develop an AR platform. Currently in private beta testing, TikTok Effect Studio will allow the app’s users to utilize AR effects in the platform’s short-form videos.
TikTok created a new website, titled “Effect House,” to allow interested developers to sign up for early access. However, it seems not everyone will be granted this ability. On the online form, users are asked to fill out their name, email, TikTok account information, level of AR building experience, whether they would use Effect House for work or personal use, and even examples of their work.
There is currently very little information surrounding plans for the addition of AR elements on TikTok and the company classified Effect Studio as an early experiment that may never even make it off the ground.
With TikTok’s roots in music and choreographed dances, Effect Studio would likely focus on integrating music and AR.
How AR Tools Can Be Used for Marketing
Remember how popular Pokémon Go was in 2016? This is proof that it’s possible to make the world our playground using AR and that there are numerous ways brands can use social media AR tools to boost sales and gain recognition.
For clothing brands, these tools allow users to “try on” clothing. For those that still prefer to shop at brick-and-mortar stores to see how the clothing fits before purchasing, this is a nice medium.
Any type of business can also utilize branded Snapchat filters that promote companies in a fun and accessible way. For example, Taco Bell designed a Snapchat filter that turned users’ faces into tacos — complete with their logo.
Courtesy Belle
In place of a static ad, AR tools allow businesses to bring ads to life, such as this billboard of rapper Bhad Bhabie promoting her show. When passersby scan the Snapcode, they gain access to an experience that makes it seem like the rapper is actually talking to them.
AR is everywhere, from Amazon’s shopping feature to Patron Tequila’s virtual tour, and it will continue to reshape social networks, how we communicate and interact, and company branding and advertising.
Image Credit: Snapchat
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