Snap takes two top executives from Facebook to bolster its augmented reality team. Facebook unveils its Horizon Workrooms app and L'Oréal released the first ever virtual makeup line. More details are below:
Snap is Building its Augmented Reality Team
The success of a business dealing with any new technology has a lot to do with the people working behind the scenes. In this regard, Snap has won a significant victory this past week. The company has hired two executives from Facebook to fill key positions in its augmented reality division. Konstantinos Papamiltiadis better known as KP, has been working with Facebook for nearly 10 years. He joins snap as the vice president of platform partnerships. Snap hopes that KP will use his experience to help partners around the world leverage the company’s technologies and build a scalable platform. These technologies include augmented reality.
Along with KP, Joe Darko, the erstwhile global lead for Facebook Reality Labs partnerships has also made the move to Snap. Darko will join the company as the head of augmented reality developer relations. Developers play a key role in the success of a platform or store and Darko will play a key role as Snap aims to build its Lens Studio community.
See also: 5 Emerging Technologies in 2021
Facebook unveils Horizon Workrooms
Facebook has not been quiet on the AR, VR front. The company recently launched its new free Facebook app called Horizon Workrooms. The app allows users to collaborate virtually in a shared imaginary office. The launch of the media event was also held in a virtual environment. Instead of journalists dialing in via zoom or attending in person, they put on virtual reality headsets to attend the launch event.
The Horizon Workrooms app allows users to project a digital avatar of themselves into virtual spaces. Users can also project their computers into this environment, thus allowing colleagues to work together and collaborate in a virtual world. Users can join these spaces using Facebook’s Oculus virtual reality headsets. The app is part of Facebook’s larger plans to create an immersive digital space that is inhabited by avatars and is being referred to as the ‘metaverse’.
L'Oréal’s virtual makeup line
The retail sector has long been at the forefront of innovation in AR. Users are already comfortable using their smartphones to purchase retail products. Hence it is an easier transition to use augmented reality to interact with these products. The cosmetics industry is currently far ahead of any other industry in this field. L'Oréal recently launched it’s signature faces virtual makeup line. A set of virtual filters that can be used with a variety of platforms. The line of ‘virtual makeup’ can be used with Snapchat, Instagram, and Google Duo.
With big tech companies investing heavily in augmented and virtual reality, its an exciting time to imagine what the world will look like a decade from now. Subscribe to Whitepapers.online to stay up to date with such latest developments.
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