Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, recently unveiled a $3.5 million fund for 2021 dedicated to supporting the developers and creators who build Snapchat Lenses. This investment will empower those utilizing Snap’s Lens Studio to further explore the possibilities of augmented reality (AR) technologies. The announcement was made at the start of Snap’s multi-day virtual event, Lens Fest, where an updated version of Lens Studio was also presented, alongside the news that Lenses created by the Snapchat community have collectively surpassed 1 trillion views.

Snapchat Lenses have become a central element of the app’s user experience, particularly with the expansion of development to a broader audience within the Snapchat community. Currently, Snap reports that there are tens of thousands of Lens Creators globally who have collectively produced over 1.5 million Lenses.

Daily engagement with Snapchat Lenses has also seen significant growth, with over 180 million users now interacting with them each day. This represents a substantial increase from the 70 million daily active users recorded when the Lens Explorer feature was initially introduced.

Snap intends to increase its investment in these community-developed Lenses as they are now the primary driver of growth in Lens views among Snapchat users, with the most popular Lenses achieving billions of views.

This new fund will expand upon Snapchat’s existing Creator Residency Program, which was first announced at the Snap Partner Summit. The original program provided funding opportunities for developers, creators, and artists to develop their Lenses, with a focus on technologies such as SnapML. Two further residency programs were also launched, concentrating on areas like gaming, education, and storytelling.

Snapchat will release additional information regarding access to the new $3.5 million AR-focused fund in early next year.

Included in the update is a feature called My Lenses 2.0, designed to help creators efficiently search for and manage their Lenses. This new tool allows management of Lenses through web browsers, independent of the Lens Studio application, switching between personal and sponsored Lens accounts, monitoring Lens status, controlling Lens visibility, and adding tags, Scan Triggers, and Preview Videos.

The update also introduces visual scripting, enabling creators to construct intricate logic for customized interactivity within their Lenses without requiring coding knowledge. Other enhancements include improved texture compression within Lens Studio to accelerate Lens loading times and reduce RAM usage; an updated Logger that now offers grouping, filtering, and search capabilities for messages; and a new Building Blocks feature providing downloadable assets and helper scripts to assist creators in prototyping, refining, and enhancing their Lens experiences.

The Lens Fest virtual event will continue for the next three days, featuring sessions dedicated to various technologies, such as AR, Machine Learning, and LiDAR, as well as guidance on maximizing Lens success and other helpful tips and techniques.