Meitu is one of the most popular internet brands in China, with its photo and video editing tools used by more than 450 million people monthly, creating more than 6 billion photos and videos every month. Facebook, who have themselves begun serious investment in augmented reality (AR) photography apps, are introducing Meitu AR camera effects for the Facebook camera.
Three AR camera effects from Meitu will be used as part of Facebook AR studio’s early Beta partnership program. Meitu is the first company chosen for the program that specialises in AR facial recognition technology. The three effects being utilised by Facebook are ‘Selfie from the Future’, ‘Meitu Family’ and ‘Instant Glam’.
“Meitu’s fun selfie experiences make it a natural fit for the Camera Effects Platform,” said Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Director, Platform Partnerships at Facebook. “We’re excited to expand the AR Studio beta to our first Asia-based developer, and we think the camera effects that Meitu has built with this technology will delight the Facebook community around the world.”
The new AR Studio was announced at Facebook’s F8 event in April, with the aim of allowing artists and developers to create frames, masks and interactive effects that respond to the movements of the user. Analysts are expecting future uses of the AR Camera to include branded effects to tie in to major movie, videogame or TV releases.
“Since Meitu launched its first AR-powered app in 2010, we’ve seen first-hand how the adoption of AR technology has transformed the way we interact with each other and express ourselves through the stories we share with the world,” said Frank Fu, Managing Director of Meitu’s global operations. “We are honoured to be selected by Facebook to kick-off this incredible new feature, and excited to come along for the ride as the platform further reshapes the social media experience.”
VRFocus will bring you further news on Facebook’s AR projects as it becomes available.