Expanding the Spark AR Ecosystem
Creators continue to energize and drive the largest platform for mobile AR
Expanding the Spark AR Ecosystem
Creators continue to energize and drive the largest platform for mobile AR
If you tuned into today’s Facebook Connect keynote, you heard about the big bets we’re making to realize a future with augmented reality — from new experiences like AR Try On for Facebook Shops, to new devices, to new research and insights that will enable AR Glasses. It’s a great time to be a Spark AR creator.
From the beginning, Spark AR has captured the ingenuity and imaginations of so many types of creators, from designers and artists, to animators and developers. All coming together from different parts of the creative world to help shape and define this new medium.
With this thriving community in mind, I wanted to quickly highlight a few areas of growth and momentum that our team’s particularly excited about — some of which I’ll talk about more in our Extending Reality with Spark AR session.
Growing Global Community of Creators
Today, Spark AR is the largest platform for mobile AR, with more than 400,000 creators from 190 countries, who have published over 1.2 million AR effects on Facebook and Instagram. And in just the last three months, more than 150 accounts have seen their effects generate more than 1 billion views.
From the start, we built Spark AR to be a more inclusive and approachable offering in the market. With freely available products like Spark AR Studio and Spark AR Hub, we have the unique opportunity to empower and enable all types of creators, from all over the world. And it’s why we’re so happy to share that over half (55%) of Spark AR Studio’s monthly users are women. This is a big milestone on the path toward a platform and collection of experiences that truly represent our community.
Extending & Easing AR Creation
We’re working hard to build and release a range of new features and capabilities that not only open up new ways to show your creativity, but also help make the creation effort easier and faster. In fact, since this time last year, we’ve rolled out over 50 new features to help bring your AR effects to life. Here are just a few highlights:
Expanding the Reach of AR Experiences
We’re excited to see so many creators turning to Spark AR to grow and engage with bigger audiences. For precisely this reason, we’re working hard to open up new surfaces across Facebook to help you reach more people with your AR effects. Last month, we rolled out Reels, Instagram’s new video platform. Now people can use your AR effects in their Reels. Additionally, we shared the news today that we’re opening up Messenger and Portal to third-party AR effects, beginning early next year.
At Facebook, we like to say the journey is only 1% complete, and that’s certainly the case for Spark AR. Our growth and success so far would not be possible without the ongoing passion, creativity and commitment from all of you in the Spark AR community. To all of you, our creators — you have our sincere thanks. We can’t wait to see what you create next!
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