Developer builds AdBlocker for AR glasses

A Belgian software developer has developed an innovative augmented reality application for Snapchat Spectacles, which recognizes and hides advertising in the real world. The AI-based technology is an extremely exciting idea for AR glasses.

Real AdBlocker: AR glasses recognizes and blocked advertising

Advertising is omnipresent – on the smartphone, on television and on posters in the city. While advertising blockers have long been standard for the browser, analog advertising in the real world has so far been inevitable. But that could change soon. The Belgian software developer Stijn Spanshove has developed an experimental augmented reality application that recognizes advertising in the real world and blocks with a fading.

The project uses Snapchat Spectacles of the fifth generation-augmented reality glasses that are equipped with its own operating system and work without a smartphone. The app uses Google’s Gemini-KI to identify advertising in the area and then replace with red rectangles. In a video published by Spanshove, you can see how the glasses recognize and hide advertising posters, newspaper advertisements and even product packaging such as Coca-Cola doses. How Toms hardware reports, the app is based on open source libraries and APIs, which Snap provides on Github. Although the project is still in the initial phase, it already shows rather impressive results. “It is still early and experimental, but it is exciting to imagine a future in which you can control the physical content that you can see,” explains Spanhove in his post on X.

However, the red overlays still look quite striking, which could perceive many users as disturbing. However, the technical restrictions on the current AR glasses still set limits to the project. Since the Spectacles use transparent displays, the overlays cannot completely block the light, which sometimes shines through the original advertising. The battery life of 45 minutes is also a practical restriction for everyday use.

Future plans and personalization

For the future, Spanshove plans to replace the red rectangles with more personal content. Users could see their to-do list, personal photos or even plants and natural elements instead of blocked advertising. This would make the visual experience more pleasant and at the same time provide useful information.