20 May 2021
20 May 2021

SPS 2021: Introducing the Next Generation of Spectacles

Today we’re introducing the next generation of Spectacles, our first pair of glasses that bring augmented reality to life. They’re lightweight display glasses, made for creators to overlay their Lenses directly onto the world, exploring new ways to fuse fun and utility through immersive AR.
Today, we're introducing the next generation of Spectacles, our first pair of glasses that bring augmented reality to life. They’re lightweight display glasses, made for creators to overlay their Lenses directly on to the world, exploring new ways to fuse fun and utility through immersive AR.
Over the years, our journey building Spectacles alongside the creator community has been one of exploration, learning and fun. We’ve used every iteration as a building block, opening the door to a whole new dimension of AR. 
Spectacles aren’t for sale—they’re for augmented reality creators to reimagine the way we communicate, live and explore the world together through AR experiences built-in Lens Studio. 
Features 
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. Spectacles feature 2 RGB cameras, 4 built-in microphones, 2 stereo speakers and a touchpad to provide a multi-sensorial experience.
Spectacles weigh just 134 grams, so creators can bring AR anywhere for approximately 30 minutes per charge. The Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 Platform unlocks the maximum processing power within Spectacles’ lightweight, wearable design.
Functionality 
Spectacles are fully integrated with Lens Studio, our powerful desktop application designed for creators and developers, to build and publish Lenses across our Snap AR platform. Through Lens Studio, creators can wirelessly push Lenses to Spectacles for rapid testing and iteration, in real time. 
The temple’s touchpad helps creators interact with the Spectacles display and launches the Lens Carousel. The right button activates Scan, a tool that helps understand what’s in the field of view and suggests relevant Lenses based on the world around you. Voice Scan also empowers creators to say a command to launch Lenses, completely hands-free. The left button captures 10-second Snaps of Lenses overlaid on the world, so creators can send Snaps right from Spectacles. 
Spectacles Creators
We’ve offered the new Spectacles to a select group of creators around the world to learn alongside us and push the boundaries of AR. Through Spectacles and Lens Studio, these creators have already brought their imaginations to life, with the world as their canvas: 
  • Don Allen Stevenson III | XR Developer | Vibe Quest AR
  • Lauren Cason | Creative Technologist | Taos, Caldera, and Anita 
  • Kat V. Harris | Technical Designer | Dance Helper 
  • Zach Lieberman | Artist | Poem World (with Shantell Martin) 
  • Matthew Hallberg | AR Developer | SketchFlow 
  • Clay Weishaar | AR Creator | Metascapes 
  • Leighton McDonald | VR/AR Creator | BlackSoul Gallery 
If you’re an AR creator and interested in experimenting with Spectacles, visit http://spectacles.com/creators
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