After announcing its results for the first quarter of 2022, Snapchat organized its Partner Summit on April 28. The social network took the opportunity to focus on augmented reality (AR), e-commerce and unveiled its brand new product: a camera drone.
Snap’s drone has a name: Pixy
During the 4th Annual Partner Summit, Snap revealed its drone called Pixy. This is developed by Zero Zero Robotics, a company specializing in the design of camera drones for which the parent company of Snapchat was considering a takeover in 2017.
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The clearly identifiable flying object, in the emblematic colors of the brand, fits in the palm of the hand. It is intended to be small enough to fit in a pocket and be transportable anywhere. Usable without controllers, just press a button and Pixy starts filming following predefined flight paths. The photos and videos taken are sent directly to the Memories tab of Snapchat to be published on the application or downloaded to be shared elsewhere. The drone can provide between five and eight flights before needing to be recharged.
Pixy is already available in the United States and France for a price of 249.99 euros and offers a kit including two additional batteries for 20 euros more. It will nevertheless be necessary to be patient, the delivery times displayed are between 11 and 12 weeks.
Snap continues to invest in e-commerce
Snapchat consolidates its position in the e-commerce market with the arrival of new augmented reality shopping capabilities for brands. The social network had added the “Screenshop” functionality to its Scan tool the previous year in order to receive recommendations for clothes to buy based on a photo.
Now, the company offers new tools to facilitate creation in augmented reality, as well as a new place for consumers to shop using this technology.
- the 3D Asset Manager in which brands can request, control and optimize 3D models and create Shopping Lenses easily and quickly without additional costs;
- dress-upan in-app marketplace that will allow users to access numerous fashion items, maintain a wishlist and get recommendations based on their tastes;
- AR Image Processing Technology where users can try outfits in augmented reality with a full-body selfie;
- Finally, the AR Shopping Camera Kit allows the integration of Lenses on websites and product pages to improve the shopping experience of users.
AR Image Processing technology makes it possible to try on different outfits from a simple full-body selfie. Photography: Snap.
Soon a designer mode
The social network also announced the arrival of a creator mode. This will enrich videos created on Spotlight, the short video format offered by Snapchat inspired by TikTok. The latter have exploded by +230% in one year. It’s understandable, then, that Snap wants to develop new features.
Among the novelties, a green background to transform the background of the videos, the possibility of adjusting the speed of the videos, but above all, the Dual Camera functionality. This allows the phone’s front camera and rear camera to be used simultaneously to create 360-degree experiences.
The creator mode is planned in the coming months on iOS then in the year on Android.
The Dual Camera feature will allow filming using the front camera and rear camera simultaneously. Photography: Snap.
With the announcement of all these novelties during its Partner Summit, Snapchat intends to continue to grow. In one year, the application has reached 600 million monthly active users and has a total of 332 million users per day.