Snapchat has released its fifth version of Spectacles, which has augmented reality (AR) features and hand gestures. Developers can get AR glasses for $99 per month. They support hand motions as well as vocal instructions. The gadget is powered by Snap OS and is part of the Spectacles Developer Program.
Snap Inc. unveiled Snapchat Spectacles with AR capabilities at SPS 2024. Spectacles now work with mobile devices, allowing users to utilise their phone as a custom gaming controller with Lenses, activate Spectator Mode for pals, and reflect their screen.
Spectacles weigh less than half as much as a standard VR headset, at only 226 grams. They have four cameras, which power the Snap Spatial Engine and allow for smooth hand tracking. Snap’s Optical Engine, which employs proprietary technology, generates a see-through AR display with Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) micro-projectors, resulting in vibrant, clear visuals from small, extremely powerful devices.
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Snapchat’s waveguides allow users to view images from an LCoS projector without requiring calibration or custom fittings. These advanced waveguides contain billions of nanostructures that integrate Snap OS with the actual environment.
The Optical Engine provides a 46-degree diagonal field of vision with 37 pixel-per-degree resolution, comparable to a 100-inch display. It automatically tints spectra based on lighting, ensuring vibrant visuals indoors or outdoors.
Spectacles include a dual system-on-chip architecture with two Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, resulting in more immersive experiences and lower battery consumption. Its design further improves heat dissipation using titanium vapor chambers, which provide up to 45 minutes of continuous standalone runtime.
The AR glasses operate on Snap OS, a user-friendly platform that enables simple navigation by hand and speech, with the primary menu always in the palm. Its Snap Spatial Engine properly depicts Lenses in three dimensions with a motion-to-photon delay of 13 milliseconds. Snap OS also enables developers to create collaborative experiences for friends and family.
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Spectacles are now available without a developer tax and offer new ways to build and share Lenses. The rebuilt Lens Studio 5.0 allows developers to quickly push their projects to Spectacles, while the new Spectacles Interaction Kit allows developers to build intuitive Lenses without having to develop their interaction system. The modern foundation supports more complex, robust Lenses with TypeScript, JavaScript, and improved version control tools for team-based development. SnapML makes it easy for developers to use custom ML models directly in Lenses. Spectacles is also partnering with OpenAI to bring cloud-hosted multimodal AI models to Spectacles experiences. Developers can join the Spectacles Developer Program in the U.S. for $99 per month with a one-year commitment, which includes Snap support.
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