Snap has announced that it is to start selling its first pair of augmented reality glasses to the public in 2026, with the glasses simply called Specs.
While specific details about the hardware are scarce, those who have seen prototypes say they are thinner and lighter than the previous version, with a wider field of view.
CEO Evan Spiegel said the cost would be less than Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro, and it will leverage Snap’s existing AR platform and its 400,000 AR effects developers.
He believes AR glasses will eventually become a larger market than traditional smartglasses, but they need to be “10 times better” than a smartphone to replace them.
Snap has partnered with OpenAI and Google to allow developers to use their models to generate AR lenses, whilst its own “spatial intelligence” will use these models to understand what the user is looking at and provide relevant information or suggestions.