This may or may not be a good thing, it all depends on your perspective, really. Anyway, this week, Snapchat announced a new integration with Microsoft Teams, which will allow Teams users to add Snapchat AR effects to their faces during team meetings. Yes, meetings no longer have to be bland and mundane – just imagine how fun it would be to have an animated chicken moving in response to your actions during a team weekly update!
“Starting this week, a collection of 20+ of the most popular Snapchat Lenses are available to Teams customers globally, giving you more ways to express yourself, build relationships, and let your meetings shine. Why not use Lenses to share more of your personality during your next Teams meeting and create connections with your coworkers that are, dare I say, memorable?”
Micro-Snaps
Snapchat says that it will rotate 26 of the most popular Lenses through Teams, providing new ways to add a different perspective to your stuffy remote meetings, including both face and background effects. Granted, these can make meetings more fun, but, to an extent, also a bit more challenging.
We’ve all had our mishaps with filters, at least once, right? When was the last time you accidentally transformed yourself into an animated animal or cartoon character? It can be freaking hilarious, but also frustrating to turn off. As such, you need to be a bit wary of your application, and the context within which you use them. Now though, if you want, you can change the way you look in your virtual meetings, with the Lenses available within the ‘Video Effects’ menu in Teams.
Snapchat also notes that this is Micorsoft’s second integration with its Camera Kit, with the company also adding Lens access to Flip, its video learning platform. Snap further notes that the addition of Lenses in Flip led to a 60% increase in both students and teachers creating videos, which underlines the value of the fun in the interaction and engagement process.
The Wrap
It might be a more minor announcement, but it’s also another important partnership for Snap, being as how it’s already a key provider of AR elements for Apple. Helping further cement its position as a leader in the space. In a way, we understand what Microsoft is trying to do, in shifting the stale, traditional digital meeting setup into a more modern, active form. Not only does this help Microsoft stay relevant and actually be a bit ‘cool’, but it also adds to Snap’s already impressive street cred.
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