With Israeli acquisition, is Snapchat betting on augmented reality?
Snapchat has bought an Israeli augmented reality startup, joining a number of big tech companies showing interest in technology that overlays the digital world onto the real one.听
The purchase of Cimagine cost Snaphat an , the Israeli business publication Calcalist听first reported Sunday. Cimagine developed True Markerless Augmented Reality, a technology that allows users to see on the screen of their mobile device how furniture or appliances would look in the space of their home or office.
Snapchat already incorporates augmented reality into its app, with filters, for instance, that stream rainbows out of a user鈥檚 mouth. Pok茅mon Go made AR technology famous this summer with the mobile game that superimposes digital monsters on city streets and other public spaces. Retailers including Ikea, Lowe鈥檚, and Wayfair are also looking to feature augmented reality.
Cimagine will become Snapchat鈥檚 research and development center in Israel, according to Cataclist. The technology Cimagine developed is used by Coca Cola to show off vending machines and coolers to would-be buyers, as well as online and brick-and-mortar retailers. But Cataclist reports Snapchat bought Cimagine more for its talented staff of 20 than its technology.
The purchase could give a bump to Snapchat鈥檚 valuation before it goes public, expected as early as March. The California-based startup is currently valued as much as $25 billion.
Snapchat鈥檚 first release of AR-like technology came with its unique filters, dubbed Lenses. The feature uses facial recognitions and geo-location to coat filters over an image taken by a mobile device camera: when a user opens their mouth, for instance, a digital rainbow pours out on the screen.听But this technology augmented reality, notes Quartz, defining the real deal as when "computers use your location, image recognition, and other data to provide more information on what you're seeing."
Even so, it's made an advertising impact.听Users spend an average of 20 seconds per day playing with Lenses, . During the Super Bowl, Gatorade鈥檚 Snapchat lens . A single Cinco de Mayo lens on Snapchat, sponsored by Taco Bell,听
Snapchat has also tried to learn from the mistakes of Google Glass to build a pair of augmented reality glasses. The Snapchat Spectacles, at $129.99 a pair, capture short video from a first-person perspective. Users can then post the 10-second clips on the app using a wireless connection between the glasses and their smartphone.
Like Snapchat鈥檚 Lenses filters, the Spectacles are introducing an emerging technology in an easy-to-use format, as Recode describes them, calling the product听鈥渁 on designer sunglasses. They鈥檙e cheap enough to be an impulse purchase for many, or a reasonable gift.鈥�
Major tech firms including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft are reportedly researching augmented reality, and retailers have started to incorporate the technology into their buying experience.听Ikea appears to be the first major retailer to offer customers a preview of how, say, a sofa looks in their living room. 听The home outfitter was an early adopter of virtual reality, offering customers immersive visualizations of rooms they can with different colors and styles, as The San Diego Tribune reported. Lowe鈥檚 and Wayfair are also looking at Google Tango, an app that uses according to MIT Technology Review, which will allow a customer to see how a product fits into the space available.
