Snap has unveiled its fourth-gen Spectacles, the wearable video and photo-taking devices the company has been releasing at regular intervals since 2016. Unlike the previous iterations, however, the new Spectacles boast a secret weapon: Augmented reality (AR).
Shown off at its annual Partner Summit event, the 2021 Spectacles are kitted out with a pair of cameras, four microphones, a couple of stereo speakers, and touchpad controls. As previously rumored, they are designed to let wearers interact with AR elements.
The Next Generation of Spectacles
In a blog post announcing the new Spectacles, Snap notes that:
"Spectacles tap into our human senses of sight, touch, and sound to bring Lenses to life. Dual 3D waveguide displays and a 26.3 degree field of view overlay Lenses on the world, right before your eyes. Powered by our new Snap Spatial Engine that leverages six degrees of freedom and hand, marker, and surface tracking, Spectacles realistically overlay creators' imaginations on the world in a new way.
Lenses react quickly and appear accurately in your field of view with 15 millisecond motion to photon latency, and the display dynamically adjusts up to 2000 Nits of brightness to explore AR indoors or outside."
In addition to the new Spectacles hardware, Snap has also debuted a new feature called Connected Lenses for the Spectacles which lets multiple people interact with the same AR scene.
The company is additionally launching an innovation lab called Ghost, dedicated to all things AR, and committing funds to aid creators making effects, alongside funding AR experiences that involve 5G.
Not for Sale Right Now
Unfortunately, while the new Spectacles certainly sound intriguing, there's a catch: They're not available to buy right now. Instead, Snap creators can request a pair of the new glasses via the company's website.
It is not entirely clear why Snap decided not to immediately sell the Spectacles 4. One possible reason, however, relates to cost vs. performance, with these seeming more like a promising work-in-progress than a fully fledged salable product. They are somewhat bulky, weighing in at 134 grams, and would most likely cost upward of the $380 third-gen Spectacles. Since that price isn't exactly cheap, perhaps Snap just decided to save itself the headache of trying to sell these to customers.
On top of all this, the battery life reportedly allows them to only be used for around 30 minutes. Add that all up, and you get a device that may not necessarily win over folks in sufficient quantities to make it a smart move. Even if it most definitely looks pretty innovative.