At Facebook’s AR/VR-focused event Connect, the company announced a new app focused on bringing more creators into the world of building for augmented reality.
Image Credits: Facebook
The upcoming iOS app, called Polar, allows users to build their own AR filters for Facebook and Instagram powered by the Spark AR platform. Users will be able to easily create these filters in a visual way using templates — a much lighter technical lift than existing frameworks.
As Instagram has pushed video harder through its Reels platform, the uptake for AR filters has gotten more sustained among users, providing an opportunity for Facebook to push them on creators.
The app seems to be pretty early in production; Facebook says it will be going into closed beta later this year as they hand pick certain creators to onboard. Eventually, the company will be rolling this out widely as a free app that helps anyone create their own AR filters.