Snapchat has announced a new ‘AR Pichkari’ lens in time for Holi 2024. The mobile based image and video sharing platform reveals that the lens was developed by a third-party developer and allows users to splash their friends with virtual colours, using their smartphone’s rear camera, simulating the use of a pichkari (water gun) that is used to celebrate the festival of Holi. This is one of several lenses offered by Snapchat that uses augmented reality (AR) technology to allow users to interact with their surroundings.

According to details shared by the company, the new AR Pichkari lens was developed by Ronin Labs and is available to all users on the platform. Like other AR lenses on Snapchat, users can search for the AR lens via the search bar in the Snapchat app. You can also click on this link, which should take you directly to the AR Pichkari lens.

Snapchat’s AR Pichkari lens was developed by Ronin Labs

Once you’ve selected the AR Pichkari lens, you can switch to the rear camera on Snapchat and point it at your friends. The app will use AR to identify where your friend is in the viewfinder and start to spray them with virtual colours. The stream is also affected when you move your phone, similar to using a pichkari.

You can use the AR Pichkari filter to move around and virtually spray your friends with Holi colours. A bar is also shown on the left of the screen, showing you how much colour is left. About halfway through the process, the message “Holi Hai!” is shown on the screen, according to details shared by Snapchat.

Snapchat’s AR Pichkari lens is already available to use on the messaging platform ahead of Holi 2024 and should be accessible to all users over the coming days. You can also access the AR lens by pointing your Snap camera (the in-app camera) at the Snapcode in the image above on iOS and Android smartphones that are updated to the latest version of the app.