On Facebook’s Camera Effects page, it highlights users delighted by Stranger Things’ cute (and slightly terrifying) infant Pollywag moving atop their head, transforming themselves into Game of Throne’s villain, the Night King, and swinging their Star Wars lightsabers – particularly fitting for this weekend’s blockbuster opening.

These delightfully dizzying AR effects are an attainable creative investment for large companies, such as the Walt Disney Company, NETFLIX, and HBO – but Facebook is ready to make them available to creators worldwide through World Effects in AR Studio.

After an earlier release of their Camera Effects Platform, Facebook launched AR Studio as a closed beta to developers, allowing them to build their own “faux-lenses” for the platform. As of last Tuesday, Facebook has expanded the availability of the Studio to empower all developers to begin crafting their own World Effects.

This advancement comes in the wake of other social platforms, such as Snapchat, only allowing lens creation from brands willing to invest a considerable amount of money to do so, or use of an internal ecosystem to build advanced AR project installations. The decision to present this opportunity worldwide also continues Facebook’s continued progress in innovating for creative content and exploring possibilities for creators and developers through augmented and virtual reality.

Ficus Kirkpatrick, Facebook director, states the reason for expansion is that “…we want artists, developers, brands and more creators to be able to build and share amazing AR experiences. By opening AR Studio to all creators, we’re taking steps towards making AR more a part of everyday life.”

We might just see Facebook surpass the creative capabilities of Snapchat with the move to open this opportunity worldwide and challenge creators to use the new tool. Currently, Snapchat has introduced several AR art project “pop-ups” in collaboration with Jeff Koons and other popular artists, through internal creation.

Along with the introduction to AR Studio, Facebook has also made Frame Studio available worldwide to creators, allowing brands and individuals to turn their “art into frames for profile pictures or for people to express themselves.” They also highlight several artist collaborations on the Camera Effects homepage from creators.

Image Via: Facebook.com

This opportunity can be invaluable for small to mid-size brands interested in building creative experiences for campaign launches, events, and more, to drive Facebook engagement and interaction with their consumers, as well as artists looking to leverage the platform to display their creativity.

AR Studio rolled out to creators last Tuesday. To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/289750598103656/. For all of our AR Studio creators, you can also join the creator community to share your excitement and learn more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/289750598103656/.