Snap, the company formerly known as (and ongoing developer of) Snapchat, has announced a new generation of its Spectacles AR glasses.
The fifth generation Snap Spectacles, as they’re now known, go way beyond the snap-and-share Snapchact Spectacles of previous generations. The design is much bigger for a start, featuring chunky frames that put us in mind of those 3D glasses that used to ship with TVs during the previous wave of ill-fated 3D enthusiasm.
They weigh 226g, which Snap correctly points out is less than half the weight of your average VR headset. It’s still about the weight of an iPhone 15 Pro Max, though, which is quite a lot to be wearing on your face.
Powered by the company’s new Snap OS, these AR glasses “enable you to use Lenses and experience the world together with friends, in totally new ways”. They pack four cameras that enable hand tracking and gestural control, while an Optical Engine and Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) micro-projectors project a heads-up AR display onto the lenses, which Snap says provides “a 46 degree diagonal field of view with a 37 pixel-per-degree resolution – similar to a 100 inch display just 10 feet away”.
Apparently, all this is achieved without the need for a lengthy calibration process, and the Snap Spectacles will even tint automatically so as to remain visible in strong lighting.
They run on a pair of Snapdragon processors, and are said to provide 45 minutes of continued usage on a single charge. That doesn’t sound massively impressive on paper, but perhaps hints at the light everyday usage tasks that they’re intended for.
Snap Spectacles might be described as a standalone product, but they also work seamlessly with your mobile device. It’s possible to use your phone as a game controller through the Spectacles app, mirror your phone screen, and launch a Spectator Mode so that friends can follow along on their phones.
There’s a catch to all this, in that the 5th-gen Snap Spectacles will only be available from today as part of Snap’s Spectacles Developer Program. This means they’re not available for general consumption, requiring you to sign up through a form in the Lens Studio app.
Members of the Spectacles Developer Program are also required to make a 12 month commitment to a $99 per month subscription. Oh, and these Snap Spectacles are only open to those living in the US, and with limited availability at that.
Confirmed developers for the new Snap Spectacles include LEGO Group, ILM Immersive, Niantic, and Wabisabi Games.
