Facebook is testing Augmented Reality (AR) technology in ads in News Feed that aims to give users better shopping experience.
The world's largest social media network is trying out the AR technology with a few U.S. brands in their advertisements to let users virtually try on items such as cosmetics, furniture, fashion accessories and other gadgets.
Facebook said Tuesday that the new feature in News Feed is limited to users in the U.S. only and Michael Kors is the first brand to have been selected to try out the AR Ads that give customers opportunities to browse sunglasses as if in a physical shop and "put them on" before they buy.
Other brands include Sephora, Bobbi Brown, Pottery Barn and Wayfair, which will start to test the AR technology later this summer.
"From try-on product experiences to immersive filters for games and movies, AR enables people to connect with your business and products in new ways," Facebook said.
It quote statistics of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as saying that more than 80 million people in the U.S. engage with AR on a monthly basis and BCG expects this number to grow to more than 120 million by 2021.
The social media giant said it wants to expand the Shopping Stories feature on Instagram that offers an "engaging" way to showcase products and provides more opportunities for people to buy their favorite brand products.
To help create better advertising experience, Facebook said it is working to Video Creation Kit to make it easier for all advertisers to create mobile-first video ads, so that they can use existing images to make eye-catching, effective mobile video ads.
