Snapchat Parent Says Indians Biggest AR Lens Creators Globally

The makers of Snapchat, Snap Inc., celebrated its second annual India AR Day in Mumbai on Wednesday, showcasing the platform's developments in augmented reality (AR). The occasion also honoured India's AR developer community, which has grown to become the world's largest publisher of AR lenses for Snapchat. Over the past two years, the community has expanded by more than 50 per cent. Bobby Murphy, Snap's Chief Technology Officer, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting creative expression in India by introducing new technologies and tools.

Pulkit Trivedi, Snap’s Managing Director for India, shared impressive statistics: more than 200 million Snapchat users in India engage with AR lenses over 80 billion times each month. This underscores the increasing role of AR in everyday communication. At the Mumbai event, participants had the opportunity to explore Snap’s latest innovations, including the fifth-generation Spectacles—see-through AR glasses powered by Snap OS. These glasses, equipped with a built-in dimmer for both indoor and outdoor use, provide a seamless AR experience controlled by voice and gesture commands.

A key feature of the event was Snap's "Anybody Can Develop" initiative, which allows creators and developers to build their own AR lenses. Snap also emphasized its local outreach efforts, reporting over 120 meetups held in 2024 that reached around 6,000 AR developers across cities like Surat, Coimbatore, and Trivandrum.

In addition to its technical innovations, Snap announced educational partnerships with institutions such as K.J. Somaiya College and Pearl Academy to teach digital creative skills. The company also introduced the India Lens Awards to recognize exceptional AR lens creations. Winners included Pratyush Gupta for Best Viral Lens and Krunal MB Gediya for Best Game.

The event also featured Snap’s support for sponsored AR initiatives, enabling brands to engage with audiences through creative advertising. Persica Picardo, co-founder of XRFX Studio, shared her experience of using Snap’s Lens Studio to create custom AR effects for major brands like Coca-Cola, Google, and Amazon Prime Video. XRFX recently achieved $100,000 in revenue from these efforts.

Snap’s India AR Day reinforced the company’s vision of fostering an AR ecosystem in India, where creators, developers, and brands collaborate to shape the future of AR. The growing influence of India in the global AR landscape was a key theme of the event, signalling the country's important role in the evolution of this cutting-edge technology.