Head of AR Business Strategy at Snap Inc. Carolina Argueles Navas presents the Snap Partner Summit 2022.
Yesterday (April 28, 2022) Snap Inc held its annual Snap Partners Summit (SPS).
Among the many announcements made at the streaming event were next-generation glasses with hand-tracking software; new version of Lens Studio; remote storage of large assets for AR developers; new director regime; and a pocket-sized drone called the Pixy.
The campaign contacted Carolina Argueles Navas, Snap’s head of business strategy, via video call, who gave the keynote address at the augmented reality (AR) shopping event. She discussed what had been announced and what lay ahead.
Navas says shopping is important for Snap. “We are really focused on trade,” she told Campaign. “The reason we’re here is that not only does it play a really big role in everyone’s daily lives, but we believe there’s a lot of friction in the trade that the camera is unique to solve.” focus ”on trade.
As of January 2021, more than 250 million Snapchat users have engaged in AR shopping lenses more than 5 billion times, Snap said. The lenses allow them to test and visualize products from brands and retailers around the world.
Snap has doubled its camera in recent years, identifying itself as a camera company and is particularly focused on AR.
Some of these technologies have their roots in Ukraine, a fact that adds to the atmosphere of authentic connection, often lacking in “Pray for the Less Happy” speeches, when Snap Inc CEO Evan Spiegel spoke of the ongoing war.
“Today we dedicate our Snap Partner Sumit to the members of our team in Ukraine,” he told his virtual audience. “Ukraine is the birthplace of Looksery, the company that laid the foundation for our augmented reality platform.
He continued: “The products and services we share with you today would not be possible without the creativity and ingenuity of the members of our Ukrainian team, and our hearts were broken by the war that took so many innocent lives. We pray for peace in Ukraine.
Navas identifies three broad themes of the announcements made in the SPS: the launch of improved technologies; more content; and discovery.
Enhanced technology includes ray tracking, which reduces the unnatural effect of Uncanny Valley from light that appears to be reflected in unrealistic images.
“Tracking rays actually affects the lighting, shadows and reflections you see in the camera,” Navas said. “It’s usually technology used for things like games or movies that use huge computers to process. So our ability to port it to mobile devices will change the game in terms of realism for things like jewelry [ Tiffany & Co is already using it to render realistic pieces, and a brooch from that brand was showcased during the keynote], or the hardware you see on the bags, or the reflections in a pair of sunglasses. This is not just the realism of the object; in fact, the way the object interacts with the world makes it look real or fake. “
Other pieces of technology include improvements in body tracking, tracking the world and the world. “This means that when things are superimposed on your body, there is more accurate tracking,” says Navas. “This means that when you look at things in the world, they are accurate in scale. So if you’re looking at a $ 1,200 bag, you know if it’s that big [small] or so big [large]and that’s a really important difference that you need to know. “
These achievements will have practical implications for traders. “This kind of technology solves consumer confidence when buying,” says Navas. “By increasing customer confidence, you can really stimulate more conversions. And more importantly for business, you reduce returns. And that’s a really important thing. “
The second conclusion from the SPS, Navas says, is about content. New tools will allow retailers to use the 2D catalog images they already have to create 3D rendered versions of the items they sell. “We will go from a creation period of 8 to 12 weeks to minutes,” Navas said.
She added: “We only take a photo from a retailer that is already on our e-commerce site and turn it into an asset that can be used directly in a trial experience. Eliminating the need to create a 3D model entirely is something that changes the game of verticals as clothing. “
Regarding the opening, Snap introduces a “Dress Up” section. Navas explains: “This is the center where Snapchatters will know where to go back to find all this content. For businesses, all they have to do is create the experience and post it for free on their organic public Snap profile. We will automatically display it in this section. “
Another free service that Snap is launching is Camera Kit for Shopping. This will allow brands to use Snap’s AR to create test experiences in their own brand applications and, ultimately, on their websites. They will not have to direct their customers to Snapchat.
However, Navas does not see this as helping brands to compete with the app. “It’s about our ability to help power cameras everywhere, because we believe the camera is the next computer interface we really want to help give more people the tools to build more AR,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to really help improve our lives in so many different ways.”
AR in retail is not just for online experiences. “I think a lot of people believe that AR and virtual testing are just for the home experience; that’s not entirely true, “Navas said. “AR is as powerful in the in-store experience.” She cites examples of beauty products where people after Covid may be reluctant to try the same physical samples that other shoppers have touched, but still want to go to the store. , where “seeing the packaging and help from a collaborator is really important for the beauty buying process.”
“The store isn’t going anywhere,” she says. She cites other examples of the Nike-Roblox partnership for a store in New York where they installed an AR “mirror”. And with recently introduced cloud location services, stores can interact with the Snap app in ways that weren’t available before. “The in-store experience is actually ripe for innovation with AR,” says Navas. “We are also excited about this opportunity.”
Asked about what he expects to see announced in future iterations of the SPS, Navas says: “What excites me over the next few years is to see how many different types of partners are thinking about truly innovative AR applications for many specific things we would never have thought of in Snap.
She says: “We are not trying to invent all uses; we want to invent the tools. “
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