David Bridges
Snapchat continues to expand the potential and practical value of AR, this time via a collaboration with The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on a new AR CPR overview, which will help guide people through key lessons in life-saving CPR techniques.
As you can see in this example, the new AR experience provides an overview of how to administer CPR, along with quiz elements and other details to help educate people on the process.
As explained by Snap:
“This new educational AR experience will let you learn about CPR and takes you through a true-to-life example where you can walk around the people performing the techniques and answer quizzes to test your knowledge. You can even participate in interactive games to understand the rhythm of how to perform chest compressions.”
The initiative is being launched to mark World Restart a Heart Day (10/16), which aims to raise awareness and education of CPR and Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) in the community.
According to research 7 out of 10 cardiac arrests happen in front of bystanders, yet fewer than 20% of people end up providing what could potentially be life-saving first aid.
This new AR experience looks to provide more awareness of what needs to be done, which can help educate more people on the process, or could even function as an in-the-moment overlay where needed.
It’s interesting to see Snap’s continued efforts to advance the use of AR, with shopping, art display and now health experiences being built into the app.
Of course, many big businesses are exploring the use of AR for similar purpose. Meta, for example, this week outlined how its coming AR glasses could help people with visual impairments to better navigate their surroundings.
Congrats to CMU on their NavCog project. Our Project Aria research glasses can 3D map surroundings and @SCSatCMU used them to build phone maps so the visually impaired can navigate in indoor spaces like the Pittsburgh Airport, where GPS signals can’t reach. pic.twitter.com/GrpvYqeRYZ
— Boz (@boztank) October 12, 2022
But those developments aren’t here yet, while Snap is making them happen, and advancing the use of AR right now, through the camera in the app.
Will that also give Snap a lead if it does end up releasing an AR version of the Spectacles device?
It’s hard to say what will happen once true AR-enabled glasses are commercially available, but Snap remains a key leader in the space, and innovations like this help keep it at the forefront, which could bode well for its future.
