OOZE MAGAZINE - issue 01 03:22

Trending • Snap — “Custom Landmarkers”
Snap Inc. Announces the Launch of 'Custom Landmarkers'
(Photos by: Snap)
Snap is now developing permanent augmented
reality overlays for different landmarks across the
world, allowing developers to design custom
experiences that blend the virtual world with the
real world.
This new feature named “Custom Landmarkers”
has now been opened up for early access to various
developers, who will be able to create playful
overlays to iconic locations around the world that
are then curated by Snap. Places involving in this
project include Yu & Me Books in New York, a
historical trip of Union Square in San Francisco, a
Charlie Parker jazz experience at a statue in
Kansas City, and an AR performance by Dua
Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion on the Paul Smith
wall in Los Angeles. Designed for those using
Snap’s mobile app or eventually with AR glasses to
view these creations is the fun experiences Snap
aims to offer.
The effects are created in the company’s Lens
Studio software instead of the mobile device itself.
Therefore, the features will only work on iPhones
and iPads that have lidar, but the overlays will be
submitted to Snap once created, which will then
verify and approve them as they see fit in order to
respect and protect their privacy.
“These use cases are probably interesting on
mobile as well as glasses, and there will be a bunch
of use cases which will only be interesting on
glasses in the future,” Snap’s director of computer
vision engineering Qi Pan explained. “But
investing in these use cases on mobile that are also
interesting on Spectacles in the future, we really
learn: what the value is that people get out of it.”