Snapchat launches AI tools to create augmented reality lenses
At its annual Snap Partners Conference, Snapchat announced an expansion of its AI toolset for creators.
The platform has rolled out a new feature called Easy Lens that translates simple English descriptions into Lenses, Snapchat's brand for augmented reality, 3D effects, and characters.
Easy Lens lets you create lenses in minutes by simply typing what you want to create. Through a chat interface, Easy Lens uses large language models to communicate with Lens Studio components and create lenses.
Easy Lens is available in Snapchat's Lens Studio developer platform, and leverages generative AI models to analyze what you type and automatically build Lenses using Lens Studio components.
Elsewhere in Lens Studio, Snapchat is introducing Body Morph, a generative tool to create 3D characters, outfits, and clothing from a text caption or reference image.
Lens Studio also gets a dedicated image generator for creating Lens icons, as well as hundreds of animated Bitmoji emoji that can be stitched together using a new blending feature.
Snapchat says it plans to add additional generative capabilities to Lens Studio in the future, including a custom animation generator and a tool that lets creators upload a video of an object to Lens Studio so the platform can reconstruct that object as a 3D asset.
Snapchat says the number of creators posting Lenses has risen to 375,000 as of this month, up from 330,000 last November.
Meanwhile, the number of Lenses across Snapchat, websites, mobile apps, and Spectacles has grown from 3.5 million to 4 million over the same period.
Snapchat is under pressure to perform, with third-quarter earnings coming in below market estimates, largely due to a weak advertising market. The platform gets almost all of its revenue from ads.
In August, the company lost more than $4.6 billion in market value as its shares fell.
In addition to exploring new ways to use generative AI across its products, the platform plans to test a range of new ad formats to drive advertiser interest as it rolls out a simplified version of the app.
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