Social video platform TikTok has launched its very own augmented reality (AR) based platform for development purposes. Known as Effect House, it has been in development since last year. Using this system enables AR developers to create eye-catching effects that users can access through the TikTok video application. It has recently gone live after being in close beta in previous months. Upwards of 450 creators have created and published their effects on the platform. These have been featured across more than a billion videos which have gone on to get more than 600 billion views from users around the world.
TikTok is now in the process of rolling out beta access to enhance future development possibilities.
With the new launch, TikTok has stepped up its efforts to compete against competitors such as Meta and Snap. These two have already tapped into the possibilities of augmented reality technology with several tools that enable developers to generate custom AR experiences and customised effects for other applications. TikTok as a platform with a huge selection of effects that are integral to what it has to offer. These effects help creators find the inspiration they need to produce new content. With custom effects, users will find even more reason to invest their efforts in creating engaging content.
Effect House does have a learning curve that users should be aware of, as there is a need for having some technical knowledge. To fill this need, TikTok has already made suitable documentation available so users can get an idea about how to do certain things. For instance, they can easily else how to generate particular effect types such as Face Mask, Face Mask, Face Stretch, and Head Tracker. In addition, they are learning about the utilisation of available materials, lighting options, and textures, among other things.
Users are also able to access various templates to get better convenience and take advantage of some tutorials to hone their skills. The company’s Knowledge Lab is an offering where its engineers perform real-time demos of how effects are created within Effect House. Some of these have content that shows how to make effects similar to those that have already been made popular by TikTok.
In recent times, TikTok has also come out with sets of specific Effect House guidelines detailing everything from policies that are outside the company’s current Community Guidelines. These are regulations that users on Effect House must follow. Among the guidelines, TikTok has stressed that creators are not allowed to create AR effect-based content that highlights any kind of unwanted stereotypes and prejudice, or those mocking the appearances of certain people or groups of people.
TikTok is ticking all the boxes with its AR platform offering and wants to ensure that there are no issues related to features that enable transforming appearances with filters and makeup effects. There has been some negative feedback regarding these and the company has noticed, and reduced such features in its latest offering.
Further updates are expected about this AR platform in the future.
