I am one of the lucky people who has had the chance to try the latest AR glasses announced in the past few months by Meta, Snap and NTT Qonoq. I have also followed some of the companies in this sector from the very beginning of their AR efforts—including Snap. In fact, I still own the first and third generations of Snap Spectacles, which preceded the company’s first-generation AR glasses, i.e., the fourth generation of Spectacles overall. A few weeks ago, I drove up to Los Angeles from my home in San Diego to attend Snap’s Partner Summit, where the company announced its second-generation AR glasses, the fifth generation of Snap Spectacles.
Background And History Of Snap Spectacles
Snap, in my opinion, pioneered the smart glasses category. It created a design and interface that could accommodate landscape, portrait and videography modes, and of course it used the Snapchat app as the software conduit for the glasses’ use. It was clear that with each generation, Snap was building up towards AR glasses, for example by adding 3-D video capture.
With the third generation, released in 2019, the company clearly wanted a more avant-garde design language to evoke a cyberpunk aesthetic. So, it was no surprise when the fourth-generation Spectacles came out looking like they belong in Cyberpunk 2077. This was followed in 2021 by Snap acquiring Wave Optics, a leading waveguide supplier, for $500 million—which is how we arrived at this new generation of Spectacles AR glasses. Unfortunately for consumers, both generations of Snap’s AR glasses have remained developer-only devices.
Design And Intent
I would argue that Snap’s most controversial decision with the Spectacles AR glasses is the design language and the overall chunkiness they have. This was a continuation of the design language from the previous generation, and likely also reflected the technical limitations of the display, light engine and waveguide. Another thing to consider is that Snap is building continuity between the Snapchat smartphone app and the AR glasses so that developers can create experiences that work on both, or are at least easily portable. That’s why Snap Spectacles have a much taller field of view than other smart glasses to accommodate content in a 9:16 aspect ratio: it allows Snapchat users on both smartphones and Spectacles to share the same experiences.
Specs And Features
The latest Spectacles use a split design, with each display powered by its own SoC. Each waveguide is powered by an LCoS display, delivering a refresh rate of 120 hertz and together producing a 46-degree diagonal field of view. With that field of view, Snap has a resolution of 37 pixels per degree, which is more than enough to deliver a high-fidelity experience that looks good and feels realistic. While the horizontal field of view still has room for improvement, I can definitely see the vertical field of view being perfect for smartphone-compatible experiences. While Snap has demoed productivity and multitasking applications for these glasses, I don’t think this field of view is wide enough for that. The displays also automatically tint in brighter environments so that objects are easier to see and so the displays don’t need to go into overdrive to make things visible.
While it is unclear which Snapdragon SoC these AR glasses use, Snap has acknowledged that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon is inside the Spectacles. This makes sense given that the last generation also had a Snapdragon, though I suspect that this chipset is more powerful than the XR1 in the last generation. The new model’s dual-chip architecture is also how the company was able to achieve the new glasses’ 13ms motion-to-photon latency, which is crucial for delivering smooth 3-D AR experiences.
Snap has created its own operating system, Snap OS, to use this dual-chip architecture so that developers don’t need to worry about the complexity of managing two chips. But how does the user experience stack up?
Software And Tools
At Snap’s LA event, I got to spend a good amount of time using Spectacles, trying out the Snap OS and the multi-user interactions that make AR fun. I think that the Snap Spectacles prioritize using software to create experiences that are immediately engaging. The vibe I got from the Snap Partner Summit was that the company is doing everything it can to make AI and AR fun with many different types of generative AI features and AR filters. The Spectacles feel like a natural progression of that vision for the Snapchat app, which currently has over 850 million users worldwide.
At the event, many of us got our first taste of the new Spectacles through a group demonstration called “the Council” that was created by the great theater designer Es Devlin. It blended multi-user interaction with voice recognition and hand tracking to create an impactful and immersive environment. Interacting with the solar system with friends and throwing asteroids at each other was extremely fun, and touching fish and seeing them reach for your input was fascinating. The Council was so well made that you could see other people’s fish or asteroids in the same shared space.
That was a very well made demo, a great way to get people to understand the potential of Snap’s platform. However, day-to-day usage is even more important, and it seems that Snap has built Snap OS to be a portable AR platform that can be tethered to a smartphone for various functions, including spectator mode, phone mirroring or even as a controller. Snap has partnered with LEGO Group to build BRICKTACULAR, ILM Immersive to build Star Wars experiences, Niantic for the Peridot video game and the Scaniverse scanning app and Wabisabi Games for CTF (an AR-assisted version of Capture the Flag).
There are also tabletop games and other apps that take advantage of the headset’s 6-DoF tracking and hand tracking. I was quite impressed with the Snap Spectacles’ 6-DoF tracking for certain objects on challenging surfaces. The device also has some of the best SLAM I’ve seen to date, using AI to differentiate among floors, walls and ceilings.
Why Snap Spectacles Are Different
While Spectacles are far from being a consumer product, considering their 45-minute battery life, they do feature a USB-C port for easy tethering to a battery for longer sessions. I was also told that the thermal engineering of these glasses means that they won’t overheat in most scenarios—even outdoors, and even when operated on external power. When you consider that these are a device to enable AR developers to create Snap AR 3-D applications, then you realize that their size and appearance aren’t really that big of a deal. That said, they are a bit on the heavy side at 226g, and I definitely noticed that weight on my ears; still, I believe that this can be improved upon in the next generation.
Snap is charging developers $99 a month for 12 months for this headset, requiring a 12-month agreement that includes support. While I’m not sure this is the right go-to-market strategy for a developer-only device, I do agree that having people lease it is a better move than making them purchase it, and I believe that Snap will offer something much better down the road. I wish Snap were releasing a pair of consumer-ready AR glasses at this point, but clearly they are not ready for prime time yet, even if a lot of the experiences and software feel mature. I was genuinely impressed with the polish of a lot of Snap’s software for the Spectacles, and it almost feels like the hardware is a generation behind the software.
The Next Generation
Once again, we are left waiting for the next generation of AR glasses with yet another developer-only product from Snap. That said, Snap is giving this to developers to build experiences; indeed, some powerful ones have already been built. It seems clear that Snap is operating with limited resources, or else I believe we’d see the company continue with its drone and smart glasses projects, both of which it has seemingly killed.
The holy grail of AR is standalone 3-D glasses, and Snap seems to work as fast as it can to get there while its competitors come at the problem from other directions. I believe that Snap’s approach is unique and leverages its relationship with a younger audience through the Snapchat app and its plethora of AR filters it calls lenses. I also believe that Snap is doing genuinely interesting things with AI and AR that will translate well into a standalone AR headset like Spectacles—just not this version. Mainly I hope we won’t have to wait another three years for the next generation.
