Snapchat Expanding Its AR Feature With Advanced Lenses

Company confirms smarter Lenses capable of object recognition are on the way.

Once simply an app that allowed users to quickly send disposable photos to one another, Snapchat has since evolved into one of the most popular augmented reality tools currently in the market. It’s clean face-tracking technology and animated camera overlays have delighted users and accessed a whole new realm of advertising for companies looking to infiltrate the young-adult and teen demographics.

Snapchat shares our excitement for the technology apparently, as the company recently announced its development of advanced Lenses that will allow users to overlay images onto objects and landscapes in the real world, not just their faces.

According to reports the advanced features will be an extension of Snapchat’s recently-launched World Lenses. Currently World Lenses use a smartphone’s rear-facing camera to overlay effects like falling snow or leaves over the image. With the new version however, images could be projected onto specific environmental elements like buildings or various landscapes. For example, airplanes or spaceships could be projected onto the sky in real life or whales could be animated breaching the surface of a real lake.

Internal development on the exciting new feature is still ongoing so no word yet on when you’ll be able to try it out yourself. For now, you’ll just have to settle with swapping faces with your pets.