It’s now clear that the augmented reality sector is growing rapidly and that the AR technology will ‘soon’ be available to users on social channels.
With the release of Effect House, it is TikTok this time that is following the trends and features of its competitors. Both Snapchat and Instagram have been providing their users with tools for the creation of augmented reality effects for some time. From being great tools for entertainment, they have quickly become marketing tools for the creation of UGC, the famous user-generated content. This latter amplifies the content initially created by the brand and makes it viral, as happened to Puma, which reached crazy numbers thanks to the creation of its AR filters.
The arrival of Effect House AR at TikTok
After nearly a year of testing, TikTok has made the Effect House AR development feature available to all creators.
The Chinese company originally made the Effect House App available through a closed beta, where only a small number of effect creators would use Effect House AR to test its capabilities.
Subsequently, following a press release, it was made official that all creators and developers could use and create augmented reality effects that, after approval by the company, could be used in videos by other TikTok users and shared with the community.
Not only will creators have fun with AR effects, but once created, they can also be used in short videos by other TikTok users.
The results have been astonishing: to date, more than 450 effect creators have published effects on TikTok, inspiring the creation of more than 1.5 billion videos, reaching a total of 600 billion views globally.
These numbers are ensuring the App’s great success.
TikTok is almost infinitely increasing the possibilities of creating original, fun, new and potentially viral short videos, demonstrating how these are a great way to create communities of users who can express their joy and creativity through this tool. This is exactly what creators need to move forward, but also TikTok itself.
Safety and inclusivity guidelines
TikTok is increasingly focused on safety and inclusivity, and according to the Chinese company, Effect House AR and the effects that will be shared by creators must comply with the Effects Guidelines, which can be found on the social platform, to be approved for use.
Specifically, the company said that for example effects that promote prejudice and discrimination related to skin colour, but also negative stereotypes that encourage cosmetic surgery, which could harm groups and minorities, will not be approved.
The guidelines are also clear on all those effects that take their cue from cosmetic surgery, such as lip filters, which could encourage body shaming.
These are necessary precautions, given the very low average age of the TikTok audience.
Future development perspectives
Now that TikTok has released a new public beta version, the number of immersive and exciting AR effects is set to increase: creators, designers and developers will be able to enjoy using Effect House to create new effects to be made available to the global community of all social network users.
Spokesmen for the social network say the focus is on bringing value to the community and enriching the TikTok experience.
In short, for TikTok the adventure in augmented reality has just begun, but it seems to be promising. We just have to wait and see how this feature will develop in the future.
If you are curious about augmented reality, if you have a business idea and would like to use our services, contact us to find out more.
