Facebook's Polar app will let anyone design AR objects and effects

As part of its broad vision of becoming a metaverse-focused company, Facebook announced Polar, a free iOS app that makes it easy for just about anyone to create AR filters, effects and 3D objects. Think of it like an easy-to-use implementation of the company's Spark AR platform for developers. The goal is to give creators a simple tool to design custom AR effects — perhaps glowing demonic eyes, or 3D text of your personal hashtag or slogan — that they can deploy across the web, or share with their followers.

The company plans to launch a closed beta program later this year, so it'll likely be a while before it's open to everyone. But if Facebook wants the metaverse to thrive, it'll need to loop in creators to help make some meme-worthy content. Let's just hope there's also a way to pay people for this free labor.