Mobile

Snapchat Expands Its Face-Swapping Lenses Beyond Selfies to the Real World

Now, anything can be overlaid with 3-D graphics

snapchat-ar-lens-CONTENT-2017 — Snapchat world lenses will change often.Snapchat

Snapchat launched its wacky, colorful lenses in 2015 as a way to turn users’ photos and videos into selfies that vomited rainbows, zombies or dogs. Now, anything in the world can be overlaid with 3-D graphics.

Today, the app launched a new feature called world lenses that uses a phone’s rear-facing camera to decorate any scene with the same augmented reality-like technology. Snap has long been building its own version of augmented and virtual reality that it calls 3-D technology to animate photos and videos.