Camera Kit Beta Is Welcoming New Developers

Apply to Join the Community

The Value of AR

Augmented Reality allows you to create experiences that may otherwise be too expensive, too difficult or in some cases, impossible to make in the physical world. It is a powerful technology that allows you to build the world you want to see by overlaying virtual elements on your physical surroundings. This unlocks a new dimension to your creativity — allowing you to develop magical and meaningful moments and share them with others.

At Snap, we’ve invested in bringing the power of augmented reality to consumers for over a decade. We used AR to first give people the ability to express themselves in Snapchat — adorning themselves with dog ears, or vomiting rainbows — but we’ve continued to invest in AR as a technology and today we see it powering all types of innovative experiences both on and off Snapchat.

Today, AR is changing how people communicate, express themselves, learn, shop, view and create art, and navigate through the world. We believe that the possibility for this technology is endless and we’re working hand-in-hand with developers and creative technologists to push the boundaries of what’s possible in AR today.

Meet Camera Kit

Snap is committed to sharing the world-class AR capabilities we’ve produced over the past decade with developers looking to bring the magic of AR to their own products and platforms. We believe everyone should have access to the transformative power of AR. With Camera Kit, businesses, brands, and developers can harness Snap’s industry-leading AR technology in their own mobile applications to deliver compelling AR experiences to their users.

Camera Kit is an AR SDK that enables developers to leverage Snap’s expansive AR capabilities and underlying technology for their own iOS and Android apps. With Camera Kit, comes the full capabilities of Lens Studio, giving developers access to our best-in-class AR publishing tool and the freedom to easily build compelling augmented reality experiences. Developers first create in Lens Studio to bring their ideas to life with features that range from basic face tracking to advanced technology including body tracking, machine learning, and VFX Editor. Then, they distribute these experiences in their iOS and Android apps by incorporating Camera Kit into their app’s codebase. It’s a seamless way to level-up existing applications or build entirely new apps with AR at its core.

The Camera Kit Beta is welcoming new developers — request access to the Camera Kit beta for an opportunity to bring the power of Snap AR right to your audience.

Real World Impact

Camera Kit was built for developers to grow their business and develop a deeper and more personal way to interact with their core user base through AR. Already, we’re seeing AR experiences, powered by Lens Studio and Camera Kit, make an impact on many industries.

Social Good

inCitu is an AR-powered civic engagement app that takes planning proposals out of City Hall and onto their urban context to make the process of urban development more democratic. inCitu uses Camera Kit to expand their tool to unlimited geographies and enrich their app using Snap AR to let people interact with the proposed future of the places they love.

Education

Microsoft’s Flip is a video discussion app with the camera at the heart of its experience. The Flip team leveraged augmented reality as a new way to engage and inspire their community of educators, learners, friends, and families. Camera Kit upleveled Flip’s AR capabilities by providing their community with new tools for creativity and expression. With Camera Kit, custom Lenses developed specifically for educational use cases are integrated directly into Flip’s camera. These Lenses are inspired by the Flip community and teach new skills — like an ASL Lens that utilizes Snap’s advanced hand tracking technology to teach the basics of fingerspelling.

Authentic Connection

Zoog is an Israel-based video app for creating shared family memories through reading, learning, and playing when families can’t physically be together. Zoog integrated Camera Kit and, using Lens Studio, built a series of Lenses to turn the reader into a whole cast of characters and create magical moments for families through augmented reality. Camera Kit drove real results for Zoog, as they saw a 280% increase in converting viewers to download the application for the first time after offering AR Lenses, driving user acquisition. Users were also 42% more likely to share their creation with loved ones after Zoog’s Camera Kit integration.

Start Creating

The impact of AR is far-reaching. Whether you operate a creative, educational, or utility-based app, you can use augmented reality to unlock unique ways to engage with your existing users and connect with new ones. Whether you’re a beginner or advanced developer, we provide the tools and training to build bespoke AR content that increases engagement with your product and brings value to your community.

Developers in the Camera Kit community are able to make a Public Profile on Snapchat to establish an organic presence, proliferate the AR content they build for their own applications, and drive incremental reach among a highly engaged Snap audience. Camera Kit developers also gain access to a network of like-minded developers, weekly office hours, a community forum to ask and field questions, and Snap’s ecosystem of expert AR developers in the Creator Marketplace to assist with creation. If accepted into Camera Kit Beta, you’re joining a community to bounce ideas off of, work through challenges, and discover new ways to enhance your app with augmented reality.

Apply to Join the Program

Join the growing community of developers using Camera Kit to bring the power of Snap’s AR technology to your own iOS and Android apps. Lens Studio unlocks nearly limitless potential for the types of AR experiences that you can bring to your audience. Apply to join the Camera Kit Beta today! We can’t wait to review your application.

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