Snapchat announced new AR and ML tools

Snapchat launches new AR and ML tools for brands and advertisers -Meta’s Former Head of VR: Oculus Go Was His “biggest product failure” - Augmented Reality-assisted knee surgeries gain popularity with better outcomes - Intel Core Ultra now powers more than 500 AI models, the company says

Details: 

• Snapchat announced new AR and ML tools to help brands create interactive experiences for users on the platform.

• The tools include faster creation of AR try-on assets for products, branded AR ads with generative AI technology, and AR Extensions to integrate AR Lenses and filters into ad formats.

• Snapchat reported a 21% increase in Q1 2024 revenue, driven by improvements to its advertising platform and an 85% year-over-year increase in small and medium-sized advertisers.

• The company is launching a Snap Sports Network channel for unconventional sports content, expanding its partnership with Live Nation, and curating concert stories from users.

Significance: The new AR and ML tools announced by Snapchat at the 2024 IAB NewFronts event highlight the company's continued focus on innovative advertising solutions and immersive user experiences. By leveraging advanced technologies like augmented reality, machine learning, and generative AI, Snapchat aims to provide brands with more engaging and interactive ways to reach its substantial user base. The reported revenue growth and increased advertiser demand demonstrate the platform's appeal to businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, the launch of the Snap Sports Network and expanded partnership with Live Nation underscore Snapchat's efforts to diversify its content offerings and create a more comprehensive entertainment ecosystem for users.

Details:

• Hugo Barra, Meta's former Head of VR, shared insights on the XR industry and Apple Vision Pro in a recent blog post.

• Barra warns that the novelty around casual content consumption on Vision Pro may fade quickly, similar to Meta's Oculus Go headset.

• He notes that Oculus Go, designed for casual content consumption like TV/movies, was "the biggest product failure" he'd been associated with due to extremely low user retention despite partnerships with Netflix and YouTube.

• Barra highlights challenges like user comfort, friction in starting a session, and social isolation that contributed to poor retention for Oculus Go and may also affect Vision Pro.

Significance: Hugo Barra's insights, based on his experience at Meta (formerly Facebook) with the Oculus Go headset, serve as a cautionary tale for Apple's Vision Pro. Despite the hype surrounding casual content consumption in virtual reality, Barra's firsthand account suggests that the novelty may wear off quickly, leading to low user retention. The challenges he highlights, such as user comfort, ease of use, and social isolation, are still relevant for Vision Pro, even with its advanced features. Barra's perspective highlights the importance of addressing these issues and emphasizing compelling use cases beyond just media consumption to ensure long-term user engagement. His blog post offers valuable lessons from past failures in the XR industry, which Apple and other companies should consider as they aim to make mixed reality a sustainable and widely adopted technology.

Details:

• A 70-year-old patient underwent India's first-ever Kinematic Bilateral Total Knee Replacement surgery assisted by Augmented Reality (AR) technology.

• The patient had suffered from chronic knee pain for five years, with limited mobility and discomfort, and traditional treatments provided little relief.

• Dr. Anchit Uppal, Senior Consultant & Head of Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement at Sarvodaya Hospital, performed the surgery using AR technology to navigate the complexities of the patient's condition.

• AR technology allowed precise visualization, accurate bone dissection measurements, and optimal implant positioning, addressing challenges posed by the patient's severe knee deformity.

Significance: The successful use of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in this pioneering Kinematic Bilateral Total Knee Replacement surgery marks a significant advancement in orthopaedic procedures in India. By leveraging AR, surgeons gained enhanced visual guidance and precise measurements, enabling them to navigate complex cases with severe knee deformities more effectively. This technology addresses the limitations of traditional surgical approaches, potentially improving outcomes, implant positioning, and joint function restoration. The patient's case highlights the transformative impact of AR-assisted surgeries, offering a solution for individuals with chronic knee pain and mobility issues who had previously exhausted conventional treatment options. This innovative application of AR in orthopaedics paves the way for better patient outcomes, reduced complications, and improved quality of life for those requiring joint replacements or complex orthopaedic interventions.

Details:

• Intel announced that over 500 AI models now run optimized on its new Intel Core Ultra processors, making it the fastest-growing AI processor to date.

• Intel's promotion of AI research and development, including the launch of an AI Developer Program and hands-on lab time for developers, contributed to this milestone.

• The high number of optimized AI models on Core Ultra processors enables developers to bring more AI features like object removal, image super-resolution, and text summarization to users.

• Intel's next-gen Lunar Lake laptop chip is expected to further spur AI growth, providing 100+ tera-operations per second (TOPS) of AI workload performance, three times the current generation.

Significance: Intel's announcement of over 500 AI models running optimized on its new Core Ultra processors highlights the company's significant strides in advancing AI capabilities on its hardware. By promoting AI research and development through initiatives like the AI Developer Program and providing hands-on resources to developers, Intel has fostered a thriving ecosystem for AI innovation. The high number of optimized AI models available on Core Ultra processors enables developers to leverage a wide range of AI capabilities, from language models to computer vision and image processing, and integrate them into their applications more seamlessly. This milestone positions Intel as a formidable player in the AI hardware market, offering developers and users access to a diverse array of AI features and functionalities. Moreover, the anticipated launch of Intel's next-gen Lunar Lake laptop chip, with its impressive 100+ TOPS of AI workload performance, signals Intel's commitment to delivering cutting-edge AI performance on its platforms. Overall, Intel's achievements in optimizing numerous AI models on its processors and its continued investment in AI hardware development underscore the company's dedication to driving the adoption and advancement of AI technologies across various industries and applications.