You must have an account within the platform in order to participate in the discussion and comment. Register now for freeClick here

Facebook’s Spark AR Studio allows anyone to create augmented reality filters and effects for Instagram Stories. Augmented reality, or AR, may seem like a futuristic term that doesn’t apply to your everyday life, but did you know that 1 billion people have had a Spark AR experience in the last year? That’s a whole lot of people getting on board with AR and Instagram filters. And it’s about to explode: starting August 2018, anyone can create and publish their own Spark AR effects for Instagram Stories! Custom Instagram Stories filters are no longer limited to the Kylie Jenner’s and Nike’s of the world, giving artists and brands of every size the opportunity to create a viral moment on Instagram. Keep reading to learn more about the future of Instagram and best practices for creating your own Spark AR effects for Instagram, including how AR filters work as a growth hack to getting more followers. Note: In response to COVID-19, Facebook and Instagram are no longer accepting new AR filters for the foreseeable future. Creators can continue to use Spark AR Hub and submit their effects and updates to be reviewed at a later date. What is Spark AR Studio? Spark AR Studio is an augmented reality platform for Mac & Windows that allows you to somewhat easily create AR effects for mobile cameras. Think of it like Photoshop or Sketch, but for AR. Facebook’s Spark AR Studio allows anyone to create augmented reality filters and effects for Instagram Stories. Augmented reality, or AR, may seem like a futuristic term that doesn’t apply to your everyday life, but did you know that 1 billion people have had a Spark AR experience in the last year? That’s a whole lot of people getting on board with AR and Instagram filters. And it’s about to explode: starting August 2018, anyone can create and publish their own Spark AR effects for Instagram Stories! Custom Instagram Stories filters are no longer limited to the Kylie Jenner’s and Nike’s of the world, giving artists and brands of every size the opportunity to create a viral moment on Instagram. Keep reading to learn more about the future of Instagram and best practices for creating your own Spark AR effects for Instagram, including how AR filters work as a growth hack to getting more followers. Note: In response to COVID-19, Facebook and Instagram are no longer accepting new AR filters for the foreseeable future. Creators can continue to use Spark AR Hub and submit their effects and updates to be reviewed at a later date. What is Spark AR Studio? Spark AR Studio is an augmented reality platform for Mac & Windows that allows you to somewhat easily create AR effects for mobile cameras. Think of it like Photoshop or Sketch, but for AR. AR (short for “augmented reality”) isn’t a new technology — in fact, it’s been around since the 1960s! But it’s only in the last few years that AR technology has accelerated and spread across dozens of industries; today it can be found everywhere from Pokémon GO to Google Maps. Social media is clearly riding the AR wave too, and a big part of this success is because of how hugely popular Instagram Stories is. With over 500 million daily active users, an extremely user-friendly UI, and the millennial human desire to share fun, filtered selfies, Instagram is the perfect medium to spread AR to the masses. But equally important was Facebook’s decision in 2017 to launch its own software for brands and designers to create customized AR effects. While the Spark AR Studio platform has been open to everyone, if you wanted your custom AR effects to go live on Instagram, you had to be accepted as part of the closed beta program.