Snap has unveiled its latest AR development tool, Lens Studio 5.0 Beta, poised to position the company in the realm of Augmented Reality (AR) creation. The company announced the release at its annual Lens Fest AR developer conference, where it highlighted a strategic partnership with OpenAI. This collaboration introduces a ChatGPT Remote API to Lens Studio, marking a significant move towards integrating conversational AI and advanced text-based content generation into the AR experience.
Productivity Surge in AR Development
Lens Studio 5.0 Beta promises to enhance the productivity of developers significantly. The tool boasts an 18x increase in project loading speed, allowing for the development of more sophisticated and complex AR projects. Additionally, the introduction of version control support, including Git, further catalyzes the productivity and collaboration process. This allows multiple developers to work simultaneously on AR projects, paving the way for more efficient development cycles.
New Features and Creator Opportunities
The new beta also features a 3D face mask generator. Using the combined power of generative AI with Snap’s proprietary face mesh technology, this generator provides an accessible way for creators to produce potentially viral Lenses within seconds. Furthermore, Snap extends the scope of its Digital Goods venture, initially launched last year. Developers can now offer exclusive AR features unlocked by users for a fee. A dedicated section in Lens Explorer will showcase these Lenses, making it simpler for Snapchat users to discover and engage with them.
Despite Snap not disclosing the total payouts from its Lens Creator Rewards program, the firm revealed that within the first month, there was significant participation. Over 45,000 Lenses opted in, resulting in over 5 billion interactions from Snapchat users. The rewards, determined by a combination of views and various engagement metrics, offer developers the chance to earn up to $7,200 monthly for top-performing Lenses.
As AR continues to reshape interactive digital experiences, the current release of Lens Studio 5.0 Beta promises to be a pivotal tool for developers. With over 330,000 developers and nearly 3.5 million Lenses created, resulting in more than 3 trillion views in the past year, Snap’s AR platform shows no signs of slowing down. Through strategic partnerships and continuous innovation, Snap is setting a new bar for what is possible in the world of augmented reality.
Snap’s Push into AI Backed by OpenAI
In February, the company announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT for the new My AI chatbot. My AI is a chatbot that works on Snapchat, similar to ChatGPT but with more limitations. ChatGPT already filters out some topics, but My AI is even more strict. It follows Snap’s trust and safety guidelines and avoids talking about violence, swearing, politics, or sex.
In August, I reported on Snap’s exploration of AI image generation with the DREAMs solution. Snapchat’s “Dreams” aims to enable users to upload or capture selfies, which the app will then use to produce new images of them in envisioned scenarios.