【nonsexual eroticism】

Snapchat is nonsexual eroticismadding its very first Lens that reacts to sound.

Now, when users open the app, they'll see a new type of lens and way to emote thanks to the launch of sound-powered filters in the app.

Snapchat's last major update to its popular Lenses feature was something called Snappables, which were interactive augmented reality games that launched in April. Now, it appears that the company is adding even more diversity to the filters.

Despite recent blowback for its much-maligned redesign, Lenses are still a core feature of the app. With this new addition, Snapchat continues to add some of the most original photo and video filters available on any service.

The new Lens is relatively basic at first glance. It adds neon pink ears to your head, a little heart to your nose, and whiskers that hover above your cheeks. But the lens really starts to come alive when your microphone begins to pickup sound.

When the app detects sound, the ears begin to grow and glow depending on the noise levels. You can see an example in the video below.

While testing it in the office, I was impressed by how easily it was able to ignore background noise, and the ears mostly responded to my voice. The result was actually pretty neat.

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I was a little disappointed, though, because the filter doesn't react to different pitches of sounds — which in my opinion, could add an entirely new level of interaction. Hopefully, future sound-powered Lenses will incorporate pitch detection and some degree of AI to respond to certain words.

Games would be a natural fit for sound integration, too, especially because Snappables only rely on facial movement for now. Sound integration could potentially make the games more fun and could help to get more people playing them.

Advertisers who decide to create Sponsored Lenses will be able to make original ones that combine visuals with sound.

Like other Lenses, the sound reactions will likely get swapped out for new ones in just a couple of days or weeks. But you can also bet that additional ones are coming soon. The first Lens with sound reaction in the carousel on iOS and Android now.

As for whether Instagram will copy this feature for Stories, it remains to be seen.