Smart eyeglasses, although it remains debatable whether they would prefer to be called ‘AI glasses’, are poised to become the next category of tech companies are fighting over. Snap Inc., with the consumer release of its augmented reality glasses called Specs, is betting $2,195 to take on Meta’s glasses before Google, Samsung and Apple. There’s still a bit of runway left until these glasses begin shipping to buyers, starting in the US, UK and France this autumn. Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc., believes that “Spaces brings computing to the world around us where we live, work, learn, create and connect.” Earlier this year, HT detailed Snap’s plans to separate from its consumer glasses business and focus on building a developer ecosystem.
The Snap Specs proposal has three key elements. First, artificial intelligence (AI) powered computing holds promise for the real world around us. Secondly, these will be standalone augmented reality glasses that will not require AI assistance or a phone to deliver an immersive experience – key to this will be a built-in display as well as hand tracking capabilities. Third, Snap’s efforts with developers, including Lens Studio, will mean a greater number of apps and experiences ready for consumers.
Snap emphasizes that the glasses also feature a privacy-first design with on-device processing, a recording indicator, and user control over stored and shared data.
Spiegel is careful about proposing and pitching AR glasses to consumers. “Spaces are not designed to replace the world. They are designed to bring computing into it,” he says. The specs are designed for everyday use, with the 47mm version weighing 132 grams and the 52mm option weighing 136 grams. For reference, the iPhone 17 Pro weighs 206 grams and the Meta’s much less capable (not having an integrated display) glasses made from Ray-Ban weigh about 53 grams. HT reviewed the Ray Ban Meta Gen 1 glasses but privacy concerns persist, as also noted in a later report.
Speaking of which, the SPECS glasses integrate Snap’s proprietary liquid crystal on silicon display, with a 51-degree field of view and 16-million colors. Theoretically, this should result in a good balance of contrast and clarity for rich, seamless visuals. The claimed viewing area is equivalent to a 24-inch desktop display for work or a 10-inch home cinema screen positioned approximately 115 feet away. Snap Inc. says the specs are powered by two Snapdragon processors, one dedicated to computer vision and one to running the lenses. They say SPECS enables high-speed hand tracking, lower latency, and more natural interactions. As validated by advanced robotic measurement systems, these glasses can provide 7-millisecond motion-to-photon latency for a real-world overlay experience.
Indeed for an aviation enthusiast like you, this is an interesting read. Snap Inc. says the waveguide has been redesigned to have minimal distortion, and to do this it uses billions of invisibly tiny nanostructures (these are so small, 10,000 can fit on the tip of a hair). Secondly, the electrochromic lenses are inspired by the same advanced technology found in Boeing 787 Dreamliner windows, which can go from clear to tinted in 10 seconds.
an early mover advantage
The smart glasses ecosystem is about to get a little crazy. Google’s delayed Android XR glasses are also believed to be arriving, featuring integrated micro-OLED displays and Gemini AI. Since they were first announced at the Google I/O developer conference last summer, there was a sense of confidence from the tech giant that the first Android XR glasses from companies like Samsung will be available to consumers before the end of the year. However, it did not complete as planned. Now, it’s expected that the first glasses from Samsung and XREAL will launch “this fall.”
Apple is believed to be actively developing AR glasses, either as a development, or as a complimentary product like their $3,499 Apple Vision Pro spatial computing headset. It remains to be seen whether Apple’s approach involved integrating the display like SPECS, or the non-display method of the Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses. Apple’s glasses are expected to arrive next year.