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India one of the fastest growing AR markets: Facebook
MUMBAI: India is one of the fastest growing regions for augmented reality (AR) technology and Facebook is providing tools like AR Studio for developers and creators in the country to help them create unique experiences, according to ET.
“India is one of the fastest growing regions for AR technology. Through our cutting-edge creative offerings, we are giving creators and developers power to build for tomorrow with emerging technologies like AR without using any expensive hardware or specialised apps,” Facebook India and South Asia head of platform partnerships Satyajeet Singh said in a statement.
Facebook’s AR Studio is a new software suite is purpose-built for creators and developers that allow them to make stunning visual effects for the Facebook camera easily.
AR Studio is currently available on Mac and will soon be available on Windows. “Myntra has been a pioneer in AR applications. We are looking to partner with Facebook now to bring AR effects into our brand pages, feed and stories on Facebook and to leverage the massive reach of Facebook to bring these experiences and tools to our customers across the various Facebook platforms,” said Myntra CTO Jeyandran Venugopal.
Facebook is focused on opening up the AR platform to more people, offering more utility by bringing AR to everyone and their daily habits.
According to AliveNow founder and CEO Adhvith Dhuddu, “They are excited to work on AR studio because it’s opened up unique possibilities to build interesting AR experiences for brands and 1.5 billion users on Facebook.”
“With 1.5 billion people who have access to Facebook camera today, we want to focus on providing unique experiences, and through the AR studio we are enabling creators to build new ways for them to access AR experiences,” the company said as it organised an “AR Day” event.
“With face gestures, hand tracking, object recognition and more, we are building for the future with AR camera filters,” Dhuddu added.
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Snapchat parent Snap cuts 16 per cent of workforce in AI-driven restructuring
The Snapchat parent is axing around 1,000 jobs and closing 300 open roles to save $500m, as artificial intelligence makes smaller teams the new normal
CALIFORNIA: Snap is snapping. The Snapchat parent has confirmed plans to cut around 1,000 employees, roughly 16 per cent of its full-time workforce, as it bets that artificial intelligence can do what headcount once required. Shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trading on the news, a brisk vote of confidence from a market that has watched the stock shed about 31 per cent this year.
The restructuring, which also closes more than 300 open roles, follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds an economic interest of about 2.5 per cent in the company and has been loudly pushing Snap to tighten its portfolio and lift performance. The firm got what it asked for, and then some.
Chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees the cuts would reduce annualised expenses by more than $500m by the second half of the year. The company expects to incur charges of between $95m and $130m related to the layoffs, mostly severance, with the bulk landing in the second quarter. Staff in Snap’s North America team were asked to work from home on the day of the announcement.
The financial backdrop is not without bright spots. Snap expects first-quarter revenue to rise around 12 per cent to approximately $1.53 billion, broadly in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted core profit for the January to March quarter is forecast at about $233m, comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $186.8m.
The harder question surrounds Specs, Snap’s augmented reality smart glasses subsidiary, which Irenic has urged the company to spin off or shut down entirely. The unit has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and burns through approximately $500m in cash annually. Snap is pressing ahead regardless, with a consumer product expected later this year, even as Meta leads the market in the segment.
Spiegel is betting that leaner teams, smarter machines and a consumer AR play can restore Snap’s credibility with investors who have run out of patience. The redundancy notices have gone out. The harder restructuring, the one that requires a hit product rather than a headcount reduction, is still very much pending.
