This week, Meta announced the discontinuation of Spark, its AR SDK that allowed developers to create basic AR content for Meta’s portfolio of smartphone social media platforms. The move does not preclude AR integrations on platforms like Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook; instead, the closure of Spark means that only first-party AR content from Meta will be available in its applications.
The shutdown of Meta Spark could be a move to enforce more control over the distribution of AR content in meta applications. Perhaps this could create a more sophisticated and better managed method of distributing AR, as Mark Zuckerberg’s company is heavily focused on AR smart glasses in the coming months.
Meta’s official statement called the shutdown a “difficult decision.” The company will officially shut down the service on January 14, 2024, meaning third-party AR Spark content will no longer be accessible. However, Meta’s first-party content that the company creates and owns will remain. The move toward exclusive first-party AR support also means Meta will shut down its related services, including Spark Studio, Spark Player, and Spark Hub.
In an official statement, Meta said:
“Meta Spark is being retired” means that the Meta Spark tools used to create AR effects, Meta Spark Studio and Meta Spark Player, will no longer be accessible. It also means that you will no longer be able to access Meta Spark Hub to publish and manage AR effects. Because developers will no longer be able to create, publish, and manage their AR effects, we will also be removing third-party AR effects from Meta technologies, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
Spark’s closure comes with a recommendation that third-party AR developers and companies using the platform download all information and data related to such content before the platform closes, as the files will no longer be accessible after the first month of next year.
In its official statement, Meta points out that the closure of Spark will usher in a new era for AR competition. Starting with “the decision to shut down the Meta Spark platform, we are also shifting our resources to the next generation of experiences, across new form factors like glasses.”
The big picture
Spark’s closure appears to be an attempt by Meta to push the next generation of AR content. The company is hard at work on its next-generation smart glasses, and while AR/VR/MR hardware is becoming more impressive across the industry, there doesn’t seem to be enough system-selling content to match it.
This means that Meta is looking to expand its AR content creation services and may release a new framework for AR smart glasses in the coming months. Additionally, the shutdown could allow Meta to retain greater control over AR deployments on its services, which could be similar to Meta’s approach to Horizon Worlds’ immersive content creation and monetization framework.
Meta continues to focus on distributing AR content through its smartphone applications. This week, Meta unveiled new augmented reality features for its messaging service WhatsApp. While the WhatsApp update isn’t directly related to Meta’s smart glasses ambitions, the AR integration could highlight how Meta is building an XR software ecosystem for its products outside of headsets.
According to reports, an upcoming update to WhatsApp will introduce AR features that will improve the usability of immersive content in low-light conditions using filters. Additionally, WhatsApp will add features to support AR skin retouching capabilities. The AR integration will be tested before debuting on Android and iOS devices.
Meta is expected to announce more details about its Reality Labs-led research and development for next-generation AR smart glasses at Connect 2024, which could include integrating AR into its broader services for an upcoming product.
The speculation comes after the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses range has enjoyed recent success. Meta has had moderate success in launching the device as a social media-based product, allowing users to share their views via the device’s cameras, contact others via Meta applications, and use basic AR interactions.
Since its debut earlier this year, Meta has reported an increasing delivery rate, with the product exceeding sales expectations. This led to Meta considering buying a five percent stake in Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica in a deal valued at $4.73 billion, based on an overall valuation of the company of over $94 billion.
At this year’s SIGGRAPH conference, Zuckerberg expressed his optimism about the future of AR smart glasses. The CEO stated:
With Smart Glasses, we’ve approached the problem from two sides. On the one hand, we’ve developed what we think is the technology required for an ideal holographic AR glasses, which is really quite impressive. We do all the custom silicon work, all the custom display stack work, everything that’s needed to make that work. And their glasses, right? It’s not a headset. It’s not a VR headset. It looks like glasses, but it’s still quite far from the glasses you wear now.
If Meta continues down this path, the company will likely ensure its applications are ready. In particular, the low-light updates of the upcoming WhatsApp update will help with smartphone camera detection and could help better understand smart glasses detection, especially since Meta makes its smart glasses for outdoor use.
Meta addresses rumors that Quest Pro 2 will be canceled
Over the weekend, reports claimed that Meta was scrapping a prototype for an upcoming competitor to the Apple Vision Pro. Speculation suggests this could also mean scrapping an upcoming prototype called “La Jolla,” which was supposed to resemble the Quest Pro 2.
The La Jolla prototype, originally planned for release in the coming years, was to use display technology similar to that used in Apple Vision Pro, but Meta canceled La Jolla due to the high cost of competitive OLED display technology.
Despite these reports, there is not only bad news for Mark Zuckerberg’s company. Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworthrecently gave insights into the situation and the status of research and development on Meta’s XR device.
In a social media post, Bosworth noted that the cancellation of the report prototype should not worry fans of the Quest portfolio. He explained:
Just your regularly scheduled public announcement: We develop lots of prototypes all the time. But we don’t put all of them into production. Some we go ahead with, some we abandon. Decisions like this are made all the time, and stories based on talk about a single decision will never tell the true picture.
Meta’s XR R&D teams, through its Reality Labs division, are constantly exploring new ways to develop AR/VR/MR hardware and software for various use cases. However, as noted in Meta’s Q2 report, the division has been consistently making losses. Meta is committed to investing in XR product research and development despite ongoing losses. This shows that Zuckerberg firmly believes in the potential of XR technology and that Meta is committed to staying ahead in this space.
With that in mind, the cancellation of the La Jolla event is unlikely to have a significant impact on Meta’s upcoming Connect 2024 event and its XR updates. Meta is expected to unveil the Meta Quest 3s, a cheaper MR headset, and a pair of AR smart glasses.
According to a recent report by ResearchAndMarkets, smart glasses are set to become the next big technology trend. The report highlights their growth potential, business opportunities, and the possibility of replacing VR headsets.
The report states that the global smart glasses market will reach approximately 678,600 units in 2023. ResearchAndMarkets expects this market to grow significantly and reach 13 million units by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53.0 percent from 2023 to 2030.
At the regional level, the smart glasses market in the US grew to around 432,300 units in 2023, contributing to the projected market forecast for 2030. The report also forecasts market growth in China with a projected compound annual growth rate of 62.5 percent and 613,300 units shipped by 2030.
Finally, ResearchAndMarkets examines broader hardware aspects in the growing smart glasses market. The firm predicts that “simple assisted reality glasses” will reach 5 million units by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 50.3 percent. In addition, the report notes that MR holographic displays such as Apple’s Vision Pro are expected to grow at a CAGR of 58.4 percent through 2030.
