Augmented reality gains led by Snapchat

FB responds to leak of moderator guidelines

WASHINGTON, May 24, (Agencies): Augmented reality is seeing strong gains among Americans thanks to social networks like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, a market research firm said Monday.

A new report by eMarketer said some 40 million Americans will engage with augmented reality monthly in 2017, up 30 percent over last year. Virtual reality is also growing, but at a slower pace, according to the researchers.

The report said growth in augmented reality is being fueled by Snapchat Lenses, Facebook Stories, and Instagram Stories, while virtual reality usage is driven by 360-degree videos on social networks.

“Users of Snapchat Lenses comprise the vast majority of our AR estimates,” said eMarketer forecasting analyst Chris Bendtsen.

Lenses is the system enabling users to add special effects to video messages sent over Snapchat.

“Snapchat growth will continue to contribute to AR users in the future, but in the next several years eMarketer also expects Facebook and Instagram Stories to be significant growth drivers of AR usage,” Bendtsen added.

Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories offer “filters” which allow users to add special effects to photos and videos, a feature widely seen as copying Snapchat’s augmented reality offerings.

Also: LOS ANGELES: A top Facebook executive acknowledged that the social giant’s approach to what it allows on the service — including violence, self-harm, and pornography — has occasionally missed the mark, but added that it’s an enormously complicated task that the company is dedicated to improving.

Monica Bickert, Facebook’s head of global policy management, was responding to the Guardian report Monday disclosing the company’s internal policies and procedures for dealing with a wide range of controversial subjects.