Snapchat’s New AR Feature Called Scan Can Identify Similar Clothes, Dog Breeds, Plants, Cars, And More
https://www.theverge.comStarting Thursday, a feature called Scan is being upgraded and placed front and center in Snapchat’s camera, letting it identify a range of things in the real world, like clothes or dog breeds.
Scan’s prominent placement in Snapchat means that the company is slowly becoming not just a messaging app, but a visual search engine. Visual search isn’t a new idea. In 2017, Google debuted Lens, allowing users to scan items through their phone camera and identify them using its vast index of search results. Pinterest also has its own visual search feature called Lens that shows similar images based on what you scan in the app.
Scan’s biggest new addition is a shopping feature that was built by Snap and aided by its recent acquisition of Screenshop, an app that lets you upload screenshots of clothing and shop for similar items. Scan can recommend similar clothes based on what you’re looking at and let you buy clothes you discover.
