Here's What Snap's $2,195 Smart Glasses Can Actually Do
Snap held a launch event in Los Angeles detailing the capabilities of its new $2,195 Specs augmented-reality glasses, alongside a new anticipatory AI service called Specs Intelligence. The glasses ship this fall and support features ranging from video streaming to an interactive basketball experience.
Snap, the maker of Snapchat, used a Los Angeles launch event to reveal more details about its new augmented-reality glasses, Specs, priced at $2,195. First announced in June at the Augmented World Expo, the glasses are set to begin shipping to buyers this fall.
A wide range of features
Specs can take Bluetooth calls, play music through Spotify, capture photos and video, and stream content from services like YouTube and HBO Max thanks to a built-in display. Users can shop on Shopify by viewing 3D product models positioned in a room before paying. The glasses also support a digital whiteboard for brainstorming and real-time spoken-language translation, with a Tripadvisor partnership enabling translation of reviews, local phrases, and currency.
Snap has partnered with the NBA and WNBA to build an interactive basketball experience that overlays visual guides and drills onto real hoops and balls, with similar experiences planned for soccer and golf. An HBO Max collaboration lets wearers conjure virtual Harry Potter elements in their surroundings. Two people wearing Specs can play digital games such as chess and dominoes, and the glasses can highlight and bookmark passages while reading a physical book.
Snap is also positioning Specs as an enterprise tool, working with Salesforce, Amazon, and Nvidia to surface codes or specifications within a wearer's field of view.
Privacy and comfort concerns
Snap says the glasses avoid facial recognition and are not designed to record the world to understand it, distancing itself from criticism aimed at other camera-equipped smart glasses. An LED lights up whenever the cameras are actively recording.
CEO Evan Spiegel repeated the company's goal of making computing "more human," though the glasses drew criticism for looking large and uncomfortable, including on Spiegel himself during the reveal.
New AI service
At the event, Snap also announced Specs Intelligence, an "anticipatory" AI app launching for iPhone, Mac, and the glasses, usable without owning Specs. The service gathers data about a user's daily life to anticipate needs, such as booking hotels or travel. Starting October 1, people can try the glasses at a Westfield Century City demo in Los Angeles.
