TikTok builds its own AR development platform, TikTok Effect Studio – TechCrunch



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Facebook and Snap both offer tools that allow developers to create augmented reality (AR) experiences and features for their own respective family of apps. Now TikTok is looking to do the same. The company recently released a new creative toolset called TikTok Effect Studio, which is currently in private beta testing, which will allow its own community of developers to create AR effects for TikTok’s abbreviated video application.

On a new website called “Effect House,” TikTok is asking interested developers to sign up for early access to Effect Studio.

On the form provided, developers fill in their name, email address, TikTok account information, company, and level of experience creating for AR, along with examples of their work. The website also asks them if they use a Mac or a PC (likely to assess which desktop platform to go for) and if they would test Effect House for work or for personal use.

The project was first spotted by a social media consultant Matt Navarre, via a tip of Sam schmir.

TikTok confirmed to TechCrunch the website launched earlier in August, but the project itself is still in the early stages of testing in a few select markets, including the United States.

The company was unable to say when these tools would become more widely available. Instead, TikTok characterized Effect Studio as an early “experiment,” adding that some of its experiments don’t always get started. Additionally, other experiments may undergo significant changes between their early beta stages and what will later become a public product.

That said, launching an augmented reality toolset would make TikTok more competitive against its industry competitors, which today rely on creative communities to extend their app feature sets with new ones. features and experiences. Snap, for example, launched a $ 3.5 million fund last year to create Snapchat AR Lens. Meanwhile, at Facebook’s F8 developer conference in June, the company announced that it has expanded its Spark AR platform to more than 600,000 creators in 190 countries, making it the largest platform ever. AR mobile form to the world.

Image credits: screenshot from TikTok website

TikTok has also increased its investment in developer tools over the past two years. However, it has recently focused on toolkits for third-party developers who want to integrate TikTok more tightly into their own applications. Today, the TikTok Developer Website provides access to tools for app makers to add TikTok functionality to their apps, such as user authentication flows, sound sharing, and more, enabling users to post videos from a third-party editing application to TikTok.

However, the new TikTok Effect Studio is not intended for use with third-party applications.

Instead, it’s about creating augmented reality experiences (and possibly other creative effects), which would be delivered to TikTok users right in the consumer video app.

While keen to confirm its broader goals for TikTok Effect Studio, the company declined to share specific details on the exact tools that could be included, citing the early days of the project.

“We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience,” a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Currently, we are experimenting with ways to give creators additional tools to bring their creative ideas to life for the TikTok community,” they added.



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