Snap announced that it’s rolling out ray tracing for the Snap AR platform starting today. The new tech allows developers to incorporate light-reflection effects on objects in their augmented reality Lenses. Ray tracing is available for developers to use in Lens Studio now.
The technology itself is familiar to gamers, as many modern games incorporate ray tracing into their graphics. However, on Snap AR, it appears the primary application will be shopping-related Lenses. As the company said in its announcement, “Snapchatters love using augmented reality to try on products from beloved fashion brands, making the shopping experience personal, accessible, and fun… Now, Lenses that feature AR diamond jewelry, clothing and so much more can reach ultra-realistic quality.”
The first Lens that uses ray tracing was built in partnership with Tiffany & Co. Users can virtually try on Tiffany bracelets that sparkle realistically. Given that Snap has incorporated shopping into its Lenses, consumers can use this Lens to try this AR jewelry on and then buy it within the app.
Snap revealed in its financial report last month that developers have built over 3 million AR Lenses on the app’s augmented reality platform. While it didn’t give sales figures for the shopping apps, it did say that millions of Snapchatters have tried on products from its partners using augmented reality.