The recent news of Meta’s decision to discontinue the Spark AR platform has undoubtedly sent ripples through the augmented reality (AR) creator community.
For many, Spark AR was more than just a tool—it was a vibrant ecosystem that allowed creators to explore the boundaries of AR, develop unique experiences, and engage with a broad audience on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The platform’s discontinuation leaves a void, but it also opens up a world of possibilities for those ready to pivot and adapt.
While the end of Spark AR marks the conclusion of an era, it also signals the beginning of a new chapter—one where immersive web technologies take centre stage. The future is bright for AR creators, especially with the increasing accessibility and flexibility of web-based AR, VR, and MR platforms.
The impact of Spark AR's discontinuation
For many AR creators, Spark AR was a gateway into the world of immersive experiences. It offered an intuitive interface, a supportive community, and seamless integration with Meta’s social platforms, enabling creators to reach millions of users with relative ease.
Meta’s decision to discontinue Spark AR has left many creators feeling disheartened, especially those who built their careers and portfolios around the platform.
However, this moment of uncertainty also brings an opportunity to reassess and explore new avenues. The discontinuation of Spark AR, while frustrating, is a reminder of the risks associated with closed ecosystems.
When you’re reliant on a single platform, you’re subject to the whims of the company behind it. This is where the beauty of immersive web technologies comes into play – they offer a level of flexibility, openness, and independence that traditional AR platforms can’t match.
The beauty of immersive web technologies
The web has always been a powerful medium for delivering content to the masses, and with the advent of web-based augmented reality (WebAR) in 2019, the possibilities have grown exponentially alongside the maturity of the tech.
WebAR enables creators to publish immersive 3D experiences that run directly in the browser of the smartphone, eliminating the need for users to download dedicated apps. In addition to WebAR on smartphones, web-based experiences can now also be deployed to headsets as well, providing even more creative possibilities for designers and developers. Simply put, web-based technologies democratise access to the immersive content you create, making it more accessible to a global audience.
For creators coming from the Spark AR ecosystem, the transition to web-based platforms might seem daunting at first. However, the benefits of adopting immersive web technologies far outweigh the challenges.
Here are a few key reasons why the future of XR lies in the open web:
1. Platform Independence: Web-based AR, VR and MR experiences can be accessed from any device with a web browser, regardless of the operating system. This means you’re no longer tied to a specific platform or app store, giving you greater control over your distribution and reach.
2. Increased Flexibility: With WebXR, creators have the freedom to design experiences without the constraints imposed by platform-specific guidelines or limitations. This flexibility allows for greater creativity and innovation, enabling you to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
3. Broader Reach: The web is ubiquitous. By creating immersive experiences that can be accessed via a simple URL or QR code, you can reach a global audience without the friction of app downloads or platform-specific restrictions.
4. Future-Proofing: Web standards like WebXR are constantly evolving, with input from a global community of developers and experts. By embracing web-based AR/VR, you’re investing in a technology that’s built to last and adapt to future advancements.
Alternatives to Spark AR: Enter Zappar's no-code and low-code 3D tooling for the web
Here at Zappar, we've always believed in the transformative power of immersive experiences on the web, and we’re more committed than ever to helping creators navigate this shifting landscape.
As creators look for alternatives to Spark AR, Zappar’s web-based 3D tools, Designer and Mattercraft should be on your radar for creating, deploying, and managing immersive experiences across desktops, headsets and smartphones.
Below, I've listed key features of both tools that I think you'll appreciate as a Spark AR creator.
Designer: No-code augmented, virtual and mixed reality
If you’re coming from Spark, you’ll feel right at home with Designer’s no-code, drag-and-drop interface. Designer is built with ease of use in mind and is accessible to creators of all skill levels – no matter their familiarity with code.
Tracking options: Designer supports image, face, and world tracking, just like Spark AR. Whether you're enhancing a marketing campaign, bringing print material to life or visualising products in a more engaging way, you'll find Designer’s tracking capabilities robust and easy to work with, allowing you to replicate and even expand upon your Spark AR projects.
3D assets: Designer supports the import and manipulation of 3D models, including animations. You can bring in GLB or glTF models, animate them with zero code, and set up interactions — all with Designer’s drag-and-drop interface.
Transparent video: Seamlessly add transparent (greenscreen) video to your AR projects in Zapworks Designer – bring your friends, colleagues of family to life quickly and easily without any post-processing work in tools like Adobe Premiere or After Effects.
360 content: Designer’s support for 360° video and images allows Spark AR creators to craft fully immersive experiences by placing users inside panoramic environments. Build virtual tours and interactive scenes that wrap around the user.
Animations: Designer offers simple, action-based animations to quickly add more interactivity to your web-based AR projects using ‘on tap’ , ‘on finish’ or scene-based animations. There are four pre-set animations available, including Move, Orbit, Scale and Spin as well as face actions like mouth open, head tilt and shake to add more interactivity to your project.
It’s important to note that all experiences created in Designer are performant across a wide range of devices, including smartphones, desktops, and headsets like Quest 3, Pico and our very own Zapbox. This cross-platform compatibility ensures that your content reaches the widest possible audience, regardless of the devices they use.
Mattercraft: Build feature-rich 3D experiences, including AR, VR and WebXR
Mattercraft is Zappar’s most feature-rich tool, and just like Designer, it’s completely web-based and offers image, face and world tracking capabilities as well cross-device publishing to desktops, smartphones and headsets like Apple Vision Pro, Quest 3, Magic Leap 2, Pico and Zapbox.
Here are the key features Spark AR creators will love in Mattercraft:
Real-time physics: Experience cutting-edge realism using Mattercraft’s integrated physics engine, including realistic object behaviour, such as rigid bodies, gravity and colliders, all managed via the interface for a simple and code-free development process.
Advanced Animation System: Mattercraft features a rich animation system supporting layering, blending, and the composition of animation clips. With fully custom interpolations supported with a curve editor, you can create simple or complex animations with zero code.
Live preview: Instantly see changes as you develop your AR, VR, or MR projects, enabling you to fine-tune interactions, animations, and visual effects without needing to export or publish first.
Post-processing effects: Choose from a number of easy-to-use post-processing camera effects. Including vignette, dot screen, bloom, noise, pixelation and more.
Develop with or without code: Mattercraft offers flexibility for both visual designers and developers, similar to Spark AR’s patch editor and scripting capabilities.
Multi-User Collaboration: Enables real-time collaboration, perfect for teams working remotely, streamlining your development process.
Zcomponents: Mattercraft introduces 'zcomponents', reusable components akin to Blocks in Spark, they streamline development by allowing you to easily create and reuse complex structures across your scenes and projects.
Alongside these features, Mattercraft also integrates directly with the NPM repository of JavaScript libraries for greater customization of your projects.
👉 Get started with Mattercraft
Moving from Spark AR to web-based AR: What you need to know
If you’re a Spark AR creator looking to transition to web-based AR using tools like Designer and Mattercraft, here are some practical steps to help you get started:
Familiarise yourself with web-based technologies: Start by exploring the basics of WebXR and how it differs from the AR frameworks you’re used to. Understanding the fundamentals of web-based AR will give you a solid foundation to build upon as you dive into Zapworks. We’ve built a robust documentation site that will help you get started.
Experiment with our 3D tooling: Designer is built for creators with zero coding experience, with a lower barrier to entry and key features for creating powerful web-based AR experiences, whereas Mattercraft exposes both no-code and low-code development options as well as a more advanced feature set like physics, customisable UI and post-processing effects that you’ll be used to in Spark.
Leverage templates: Both Designer and Mattercraft offer a variety of templates that can serve as a starting point for your projects. These templates are especially useful if you’re new to the platform, as they provide a framework that you can customize to suit your needs.
Join the community: Join the XR Pioneers Discord where you can engage with our community to learn from other creators, share your work, and seek feedback. The community is a valuable resource for discovering best practices, troubleshooting issues, and staying up to date with the latest developments.
Publish and share your experiences: Once you’ve created your first AR, VR or indeed MR experience, you’ll be able to instantly publish it to the web and share it with your audience – no apps or downloads here. Take advantage of the platform’s analytics tools to track engagement and gather insights that can inform your future projects.
The future of immersive experiences: Embracing the open web
The discontinuation of Spark AR may have been a blow to the AR creator community, but it also serves as a catalyst for innovation. By embracing immersive web technologies, creators can unlock new opportunities and reach a broader audience than ever before. The open web offers a level of freedom, flexibility, and future-proofing that proprietary platforms simply cannot deliver.
As we move into the new era of the immersive web, we firmly believe tools like Designer and Mattercraft will play a crucial role in shaping the future of immersive experiences. By leveraging the power of WebXR, creators can continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in AR, VR, and MR, delivering engaging, interactive content directly through the web on any device.
Wrapping up
Here’s the bottom line, while the end of Spark AR marks the end of a chapter, it’s also the beginning of a new journey – one that’s filled with endless possibilities. As you transition to new tools and platforms, remember that the core of what makes AR so compelling remains the same: the ability to create experiences that captivate, engage, and inspire.
The future of AR is bright, and it’s waiting to be written by creators like you.
How Spark AR creators can get started with web-based AR (WebAR)
To get started with web-based AR, VR and MR using Designer or Mattercraft, you can start a 14-day free Zapworks trial and dive straight into your preferred 3D tool, either from scratch or using one of the available templates.
We can't wait to see what you create!
Dave Mather