Earlier this month, TikTok announced that it was experimenting with its own Augmented Reality (AR) development platform (TikTok Effect Studio). At first glance, it seems that the video-sharing social network is heavily taking influence from rival social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, who up until recently have been market leaders in the AR marketplace. According to Wallaroo, TikTok currently has about 80 million monthly active users in the United States, 60% are female, 40% are male. 60% of users are between the ages of 16-24. With TikTok’s popularity showing no sign of decline, many have begun to question if we will start to see the rise of a new market leader in the Augmented Reality marketplace.
Following recent developments, TikTok announced ‘TikTok Effect Studio’, an AR development toolkit which will allow developers to create bespoke AR experiences for the platform. TikTok Effect Studio is currently in its early stages of development – Tiktok are going as far as to call it an ‘experiment’, that being said, this could change drastically between now and its official launch. Upon its release, TikTok Effect Studio will be readily available for creators and developers as a desktop app for Windows and iOS.
In a recent interview with Techcrunch, a spokesperson from TikTok said “We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience, currently we’re experimenting with ways to give creators additional tools to bring their creative ideas to life for the TikTok community”.
Early evidence of TikTok’s ascent into the AR market was seen back in January 2021, when the company released their first AR experience onto the market. This augmented experience featured a New Year’s Eve ball which would explode showering the surrounding environment with shimmering confetti. Due to the high processing power of LiDAR technology, the digital confetti would scatter randomly throughout the surrounding environment, interacting with real-world objects and people, creating a highly immersive and realistic experience. Whilst TikTok was praised for this highly immersive experience, this was also incredibly limited as it was only accessible to those with smartphone devices with inbuilt LiDAR technology (such as the iPhone 12 pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max).
As TikTok continues to grow within the social media market, this has created another platform for creators and viewers to interact and engage with AR. With the development of TikTok Effect Studio, this tool will allow creators and developers to collaborate with brands and utilize Tiktok to create more innovative and engaging content. As 47% of TikTok users are aged between 10 and 29, it is incredibly likely that many brands will seize this opportunity to use TikTok as an initial POC to promote their products and services directly to this younger audience.
At Eon Visual Media, our team of creative developers have explored Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for many years, and have collaborated with some of the biggest healthcare brands in the world to create incredibly engaging visual content. With our specialized area being Healthcare, we feel AR is ground breaking for the healthcare sector, If you’d like to find out more about how augmented reality can help your business, please check out our augmented reality webpage or alternatively please contact us here!
