Snapchat Lens Studio 3.2 available on upcoming iPhone 12

Snapchat is among the first apps to tap into the LiDAR scanner on iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max announced on Tuesday. The social media site has rolled out a Lens Studio update that offers augmented reality (AR) creators more options to create effects and publish them directly on Snapchat.

The iPhone LiDAR Scanner lets Snapchat’s camera see a metric scale mesh of the scene, understanding the geometry and meaning of surfaces and objects to create a more immersive AR experience. Snapchat says creatives can tap into the iPhone A14 Bionic chipset and ARKit, to “render thousands of AR objects in real-time.”

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“The addition of the LiDAR Scanner to iPhone 12 Pro models enables a new level of creativity for augmented reality,” said Eitan Pilipski, Snap’s SVP of Camera Platform. “We’re excited to collaborate with Apple to bring this sophisticated technology to our Lens Creator community.”

The preview mode in Lens Studio 3.2 allows AR creators and developers to create Lenses and preview them even before the iPhone 12 Pro arrives. The updated app is also available on the latest iPad Pro.