Snap on Tuesday introduced an upgraded version of its Spectacles augmented reality glasses, further cementing its claim that wearable devices that enhance views of the real world will be one of the next leading steps in the technology.
The company, known for popular messaging app Snapchat and animated filters, has partnered with chipmaker Qualcomm and OpenAI's ChatGPT to create the glasses, which allow users to apply digital images and filters to the real world through the lenses.
The smartglasses could connect directly to the Snapchat app — which has 432 million daily active users — by the second quarter of 2024, According to Statista,
Snap's shares fell 2% on Tuesday after rising about 10.8% over the past five days before the announcement.
The stock has fallen 41.8% so far this year.
The glasses will be released exclusively for developers — who can work on new features for the product — and will be available for purchase online. Developers will need to pay a $99 monthly fee for at least one year, then return the glasses when the subscription ends.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told Bloomberg ahead of Snap's annual partner summit in Santa Monica, California, that this is an important step toward increasing acceptance among everyday users.
“By working closely with developers and continually improving our platform, I think we'll get to a place where there will be a lot of really cool lenses for people to try out with Spectacles.”
The first version of Spectacles was launched in 2016, but the effort did not boost revenue for Snap, whose business depends on selling digital advertising.
Bigger rivals are also racing to advance AR. Meta is expected to unveil its first AR glasses during its Connect developer conference next week.
The fifth-generation Spectacles are powered by a new operating system called Snap OS. The user interface responds to the wearer's hands and voice, and the operating system better understands the user's surrounding environment to provide AR effects, Spiegel said
“Hundreds of millions of people are using AR on the Snapchat app,” Spiegel said. “Unlocking the full potential of AR with Glasses is really exciting for us.”
Spiegel said that while developers create new apps for the glasses, Snap will work on making the product less bulky.
According to Bloomberg, the glasses have a black finish and rectangular frames, but they're bulkier than usual, with much thicker bands and lenses to make room for two Qualcomm chips and the tiny projectors that project images in front of the user's eyes. Review,
The glasses have a button to take videos and a power button to turn the device on and off.
A flashing LED light on the side of the glasses will indicate when they are recording a video.
Aside from the two buttons, the glasses are controlled with your hands: You can move your hands in front of the frames to select and move digital objects around.
A Bloomberg Review He said the glasses are “mostly easy to use” and work easily indoors and outdoors because they have transition lenses that darken in the sun.
Bloomberg and A. The Verge review He said that these glasses do not provide enough applications for the users.
