Snapchat owner Snap has unveiled the new augmented reality (AR) glasses, its fifth generation of smart glasses, at its Partner Summit in Los Angeles. These AR glasses are not available for the wider public at the moment, as they are intended for developers only. The developers who wish to get their hands on this will have to pay $99 a month for one full year to build AR apps for the device.
The reason for this might be that Snap thinks that the consumer market is not ready for AR now and also that the technology has not matured enough to replace smartphones.
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Snap New AR Glasses: Specifications, Features, Design
The frames are chunkier than the regular glasses and are quite thick. One of the improvements that Snap's fifth generation glasses possess over its predecessor is the larger field of view, which has almost tripled, and in some way, is equivalent to having a 100-inch display in the room.
The lenses feature Snap's waveguide technology combined with Liquid Crystal on Silicon micro-projectors for augmented reality (AR) functionality. Each arm houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, while external cameras track the surroundings, enabling hand-tracking similar to Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest devices. However, the battery life is short, lasting only around 45 minutes, as fitting a larger battery into the slim frame is challenging. These AR glasses, like Apple's Vision Pro, are not designed for extended use, with the latter lasting up to two hours via a tethered battery pack.
Snap asserts that the glasses provide superior visuals and come with a revamped operating system called Snap OS. Enhancements include a new user interface that can be controlled using hand gestures and voice commands. Users can bring up the main menu in their palm and tap icons to perform tasks like closing an app or navigating back to the lens explorer.