Snapchat introduces new 3D augmented reality emoji for videos

With an announcement beating Facebook’s big developer conference by a few hours, Snapchat is announcing a new way for its users to interact with videos.

It’s a new type of World Lenses which are essentially 3D augmented reality emoji for the real world that you can place inside of videos taken with the rear camera. This allows for the freedom of movement, giving users the ability to move around 3D objects as if they were there IRL.

Previously, Snapchat’s Lenses were mostly just 3D masks people can place over their faces, or a very limited selection of World Lenses. Those launched over a year ago so it was time for Snapchat to take things to the next level: videos recorded with the rear camera.

It’s not too terribly groundbreaking and not a full fledged ecosystem like Facebook’s new Camera platform, but you’re sure to see everyone you follow using them in extreme abundance. Happy Snapping!

via Snap Inc