The parent company of Snapchat, Snap Inc., has introduced its new AR (Augmented Reality) spectacles, making one of the biggest tech launches in 2024. Snap Inc., the American multimedia company made the move at its annual Partner Summit recently held in Los Angeles. Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap Inc., unveiled this product, which showcases the company’s focus on AR technology.
These are the 5th generation of Snap spectacles, and according to the company, they weigh only 226 grams. Users can wear them like regular glasses without discomfort and enjoy an immersive AR reality experience.
During the announcement of the AR glasses partnership with OpenAI to open artificial intelligence models to lens developers. The company also revealed that these glasses won’t have any developer tax and will allow them to build and share superior glasses.
Snap AR glasses have four cameras powering the Snap Spatial Engine and hand tracking. The new Snap spectacles are standalone devices that can be operated with pinch gestures of the right hand. They also have a virtual console that opens in the user’s left palm. These spectacles place an overlapping AR image on the user’s view so they don’t get cut off from reality.
For instance, users can play virtual chess on a real table using the snap spectacles. They can lift the pieces with pinch gestures and make moves on a virtual chess board while enjoying a real cup of coffee.
The Snap Spectacles can also be paired with smartphones via the Snap Spectacles app. With the app, people can use their phone as a controller and mirror the phone screen for a larger image. The spectacles’ spectator mode allows group activities to increase enjoyment. So, two people can play chess or another multiplayer game while wearing the spectacles.