Snapchat unveiled a new version of Spectacles back in September, providing a peak at the future – with augmented reality glasses. I got the opportunity to try them out earlier this week, and honestly, they’re pretty impressive. Far from perfect, but definitely amazing.
Quick overview First things first, Spectacles aren’t actually a consumer product that you can straight up buy, nor will they be anytime soon. Developers can buy them to build apps for Snapchat’s new AR platform, called Snap OS – but they’re not for the everyday person. To obtain them as a developer, you’ll need to join Snapchat’s developer program for $99/month – and commit for at least 12 months.
It isn’t necessarily an accessible product quite yet. However, getting to try them out really makes me wish I had a pair. Also, despite the fact that these share the same “Spectacles” branding as Snapchat’s prior camera glasses, it’s worth noting that these are a very different product.
These are proper augmented reality glasses, with displays that project content over the real world. They do have cameras for capturing content, similar to old Spectacles – but these new Spectacles are much more than the prior ones, despite sharing the same branding. Shared experiences I tried a couple varying experiences on the Spectacles, including one that let you draw art in the space around you with your finger, one that let you create forests around you (with your finger being a magic wand that genera.
