Snapchat’s new AR feature to let creators make money

SAN FRANCISCO: Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has announced that its upcoming augmented reality (AR) feature will help creators make money.

Snap made the announcement at its Lensfest developer event earlier this week and claimed that it has been working with some creators to build lenses that include purchasable digital goods, reports The Verge.

Users will be able to buy digital goods with Snap Tokens.

The company hopes that the feature will help developers to make money and motivates them to keep building.

"We're very optimistic that this will create more opportunities for Snapchatters to pay for the value that they're getting in our experience," Bobby Murphy, chief technology officer, Snap, said in a statement.

"And then also motivate even more investment and time and effort and increase the level of quality around use cases."

Establishing an AR business is crucial for Snap's long-term prospects.

The company is aware that face lenses on smartphones are not the ultimate form of AR as long-term vision requires dedicated glasses, always-on experiences and intelligent software.

"If I do choose to put a piece of hardware on my face, It has to be adding value to my life almost every minute that I'm wearing it; otherwise, I will choose not to do it," said Qi Pan, director of computer vision engineering, Snap.