Generative AR explained: The next step after AI image generators

Every single image you generate through AI is contained within a box. You type something, wait, receive an image, and scroll on. Very clever, indeed, but it is still a postcard from somewhere you have never been before. That is where Generative Augmented Reality (AR) comes into the game. By using the power of AI, it turns your words, photos, or even sketches into three-dimensional objects that it can place into your own room via your phone camera. The Lens Studio by Snapchat is already capable of allowing artists to write a prompt and receive a 3D object while Simulon 2.0 is working towards bringing the concept to regular consumers.

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What generative AR is

Generative AR refers to the merger of generative AI and augmented reality and the results come out not as a file anymore. The industry experts coined the term for implementing the mechanisms of generative AI in AR.

It may seem like an even fancier Snapchat filter, but it is a completely new medium. While the image generator has to generate a whole scene and make sure all shadows, reflections, and proportions are perfect at once, a 3D object generator only has to get one right, while the room around is provided by your phone. This is how the result comes to life as part of your environment rather than overlaying it.

Who is building generative AR tools, from Snap to Simulon

Snap is the biggest name building generative AR tools, and Simulon is a small newcomer aiming at everyday users.

Snap also started with creators. Using its Lens Studio tools, artists could type a prompt and instantly receive a 3D object to be used in their AR lens instead of making a model themselves. As the company’s Chief Technology Officer reported, it shortened the development process from weeks to hours. It became available to consumers next. Imagine Lens was called the first open-prompt image generation Lens that allowed any user to control the end result. It was launched to pay-as-you-go Lens+ and Snapchat Platinum subscribers and became available to all US users afterwards.

Simulon bets on the fact that people want these tools right now and they are willing to pay for them. The iPhone app allows turning any photo, sketch, or even text description into 3D “neural assets”. Then you can place it into your space using the camera, make a photorealistic picture and turn it into a short video by typing the description of actions the asset is supposed to do. For example, your pet, a doodle, or even an imaginary creature can go across your floor.The app can also merge two assets into a new one, which is where it gets a bit chaotic in a good way.

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Why AR glasses are the long-term home for generative AR

AR Glasses are where generative AR ends up going because holding your phone up to your room is a clumsy way of doing that. You hold it, you point it, your arm tires out. People do not dream of living in a six-inch window.

Snap understands this. Their Specs are AR glasses that cost $2,195 and are set to be shipped this fall in the United States, UK and France. This is much cheaper than the $3,499 Vision Pro but still very expensive compared to the 379-799 price range for Meta’s products. Will people pay that? Well, we shall see about that. What is important is where generative tools go. Something that you can bring into existence through just a sentence becomes all the more interesting when it shows up in your field of vision, without the screen in between. The phone was practice.

What generative AR costs and what holds it back in India

It is not inexpensive nor seamless to use Generative AR, as demonstrated by the economics. Simulon’s processing takes place in the cloud and requires credits. Users receive 100 credits in the free version but only for assets from its library. Creating custom subjects would require Plus plan that costs $14.99 per month and Pro costs $39.99 per month. Credit packs vary from $4.99 to $24.99. Each clip comes with a price tag, and hence this trend is completely different from playing around with a free image generator.

Then, there is an India issue. Simulon only runs on iPhones and Android is to follow soon. However, the fact remains that most Indians use Android smartphones. The pricing is in dollars too. Specifications are also out of the question as there has been no word of availability of the glasses in India yet. This trend is just to keep tabs on for now.

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