snap announces a new generation of spectacles, streamlined glasses to experience the world in ar

Snap Unveils New Spectacles with Augmented Reality Capabilities

During a pre-recorded Partner Summit, Snap showcased a range of new tools for Snapchat users, creators, and businesses. The company concluded the event with a significant announcement demonstrating its continued commitment to hardware development, despite past challenges.

Snap introduced the newest iteration of its Spectacles, featuring a streamlined, retro design in black. This represents the company’s most ambitious effort yet to integrate its augmented reality (AR) technology into a dedicated device.

A Leap Forward in AR Glasses

Evan Spiegel, Snap’s co-founder and CEO, described the Spectacles as the company’s “first glasses that truly bring augmented reality to life.” Users familiar with previous versions will find these glasses offer a more intuitive and seamless experience.

The fourth-generation glasses are designed to operate for 30 minutes on a single charge. They incorporate dual 3D waveguide displays and provide a 26.3-degree diagonal field of view. This creates an immersive visual experience where digital elements appear naturally integrated with the real world.

These glasses are engineered for brightness, ensuring usability both indoors and outdoors. They also include integrated microphones, stereo speakers, and touchpad controls. At 134 grams, they are relatively lightweight for a device of this complexity.

Targeting Creators and a Public Approach to AR

Snap is primarily marketing this device to creators within the Snap ecosystem, rather than directly to general consumers as it has with prior hardware releases. This strategy mirrors the approach taken by other companies, who are building AR technology publicly even before it’s fully ready for widespread adoption.

While less powerful than hardware from AR startups like Magic Leap, Snap prioritized a more approachable form factor, avoiding the bulkiness of other AR headsets.

Technical Specifications and Features

The glasses utilize Snap’s new spatial engine, which incorporates six degrees of freedom, hand and surface tracking, and realistic placement of digital objects within the physical environment. A low latency of 15 milliseconds ensures a responsive user experience.

Integration with Snap’s Lens Studio allows creators to develop custom lenses specifically for the device. The glasses have already been distributed to a select group of early adopters, and are expected to launch with a variety of pre-installed lenses and customizations.

Competition in the AR Space

Snap continues to view augmented reality as a significant growth opportunity, despite being a smaller player compared to industry giants.

These AR-enabled Spectacles are launching ahead of Facebook’s smart glasses, developed in partnership with Ray-Ban. However, Facebook’s glasses will not feature built-in displays and will rely on alternative input methods. Apple is also reportedly developing AR glasses, with a substantial team dedicated to their creation.