Snapchat’s Secrets

By Sara Sommercorn, Digital Storyteller

Published: August 10, 2017

Snapchat kept a secret from us.

The social media giant is known for its filters that can turn a user into anything from a dancing elf to a hot dog. Besides the obvious ‘what?’ there lies another question that is far more perplexing: how? Snapchat has been notoriously secretive about how it packed advanced augmented reality features into its mobile app.

Snapchat is able to compress image recognition artificial intelligence while still maintaining acceptable performance using two techniques. The brand simplifies the way that artificial intelligence recognizes shapes and proposes a slightly different configuration of AI’s neural network to offset that simplification. With these techniques, Snap claims to fit its algorithm (how AI recognizes shapes) into just 5.2 MB — that’s about the size of a song in MP3 — with accuracy that rivals Google’s latest research attempt to scale down its mobile AI.

This technology can be used by brands in event geofilters and promotional filters. Taco Bell made everyone’s dream of turning into a taco a reality when the brand teamed up with Snapchat to create a filter that was … surprising, to be honest. But when an ad is new, different and memorable, it is destined to see success.

Snapchat's Secrets

Looking to unveil more of the mystery? You can learn more about Snapchat’s secrets in “Snapchat quietly revealed how it can put AI on your phone.” Then, fill out our contact form and let’s chat!