Top Insights from AR Fest 2019

This past weekend, we sent delegates from our in-house AR Team to the leading industry AR event: AR Fest, held by Spark AR from Facebook. It was an excellent opportunity for Master of Code Global to learn firsthand how augmented reality effects and apps can act as tools for businesses to promote their products and services. We’ve put together our top insights from AR Fest that explore the best AR use cases, tips for businesses and what the future holds for the industry.

Shop with AR

Edgar Netto, a Partner Engineer at Facebook announced that we can expect the launch of AR Shopping later this year. The feature would allow users to use the ‘try on’ effect, that would trigger the Facebook Camera to open and a user interact with the advertised product. Since Instagram and Facebook allow face and hand tracking this will be an excellent opportunity for brands in the glasses, earphone, jewelry and beauty supply industries. Think about trying on sunglasses in the comfort of your own home and then order them immediately! If the user is happy with how the effect looks then they can proceed to purchase, all within the Facebook platform.

Spark AR for Shopping

This will be the thing, that will influence the principle of using AR effects. They will transform from just a fun thing to the real business. When the opportunity to track conversions will come out, brands will be more interested in using AR effects.

Eugene Chabanyuk,

AR Developer at Master of Code Global

We’re excited to see this platform launch soon, as it’s sure to be popular among consumers and allow brands offer additional value online.

AR Lenses: 1 Billion Served

Spark AR also announced that more than 1 billion users have viewed its AR lenses this past year. The most active users of AR filters were between 18-34 years age group, something businesses should take into account when ideating what AR effects as part of their marketing strategy.

1 billion users of AR effect
1 billion people using AR lenses powered by Spark AR since F8 past year

Promoting and Sharing Effects

The keynotes also talked about how promoting the AR effect is just as essential as choosing an effect to create. Businesses and agencies must get skilled up on the best practices to drive engagement to these lenses to ensure success. Whether it be through paid or organic promotion, there are many ways to entice and delight your customers to ‘try on’ your products.

Changing the way of getting lenses

At the moment, to access an AR effect on Instagram, you have to follow the developer who published it. However, later this year you will be able to search effects using tags, names, authors and categories. This is something we’re really excited about as it will make it easier for users to share the effects they love with the family and friends.

Conclusion

Many brands including, IKEA, Coca-Cola, and McDonalds, have already deployed new channels to build brand awareness using innovative AR technologies, changing the overall user experience. One thing is for sure, AR (augmented reality) is an emerging trend that isn’t going anywhere, with lots of opportunity to grow and offer more refined and complex effects. For now, there is only face and hand recognition, and we can’t wait for what comes next!

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