Making Computing More Human with SPECS

It's a weird time to be launching a new computer. We're being told that AI will take our jobs and virtual worlds will replace the real one. We don't accept that future. Making people irrelevant is not progress. Computers should make humanity more important, not less.

Our bet is on you. On your imagination, your creativity, your relationships, and what we can do together. Technology should add to your life, not cut you out of it.

More than a decade ago, we set out to build a new computer from the ground up, around people. That led to SPECS, a new kind of computer built into a pair of augmented reality glasses. Our vision is to make computing more human.

SPECS look different because they are different. We built them around how people interact with the world: we see what's around us, think about what to do, and then act. See-through lenses bring digital experiences into your surroundings, and our AI-native operating system is designed to help you get things done through natural interactions using your hands and voice. SPECS feature computing hardware built directly into the glasses without a puck or tether. 

The future isn't about what computers can do. It's about what you can do.

Today, we're showing what you can do with SPECS, including new augmented reality (AR) experiences, SPECS Intelligence, innovative partnerships across industries, a new charging case with cellular connectivity, and SPECS First Look at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, where you can try SPECS in-person starting October 1st.

Today we introduced SPECS Intelligence, a new anticipatory AI service from Snap designed to work across iPhone, Mac, and SPECS AR glasses. It builds an understanding of your goals, priorities, relationships, and routines from the apps and tools you choose to connect, helping you focus on what matters now while making progress towards your longer-term goals.

Rather than waiting for a prompt, SPECS Intelligence is designed to anticipate when help would be useful and surface relevant information and actions at the right moment. On SPECS AR glasses, it is designed to extend that personal context into the physical world by bringing relevant information directly into view.

Starting today in the U.S., anyone 18+ can download the SPECS app for iOS and try the SPECS Intelligence preview. You can also join the waitlist at specs.com/intelligence or directly within the SPECS app for invitation-only early access to the fuller SPECS Intelligence experience on Mac.

Learn more about SPECS Intelligence here.

SPECS help you do the things you care about in the real world, from practicing a skill to bringing your imagination to life.

Together with the NBA and WNBA, we're building interactive basketball experiences that help fans practice in a whole new way. Using a real ball and hoop, SPECS can layer visual guidance, drills, and progress cues directly onto the world around you, making it easier to work on your game.

Coming next year, ALO Wellness Club will bring movement, recovery, and mindfulness into every part of the day through guided experiences designed to extend the practice beyond the mat, whether you're walking through the park, stretching at home, or taking a moment to reset between meetings.

You can also sharpen your footwork with the Soccer Skills Lens. It puts you on a virtual training course with dribbling drills that get progressively more challenging as you advance. Or work on your golf swing with a Lens that helps improve your swing mechanics or putting stroke. Developed with guidance from PGA Professionals, SPECS can analyze your golf movements and provide personalized advice.

In partnership with HBO Max, we're bringing the world of Harry Potter to SPECS AR glasses in celebration of the new HBO Original Series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, premiering this Christmas. The new Harry Potter Lens lets you step into milestone moments from the story, from receiving a Hogwarts acceptance letter, to choosing a wand, to casting iconic spells.

For knowledge seekers, SPECS make education more immersive, engaging, and hands-on. AI on SPECS AR glasses can bring contextual information into your view or teach you about your surroundings. Or you can explore an educational Lens to learn about specific subjects. For example, the Apollo 11 Lens brings history and science into your space with an interactive, virtual recreation of the historic moon mission. You can also learn about the night sky with Starmap, which overlays constellations onto your surroundings so you can explore the stars from anywhere, at any time.

For those looking to watch the latest content and TV shows, the SPECS browser enables streaming from YouTube, HBO Max, and more. With a massive virtual display that feels like a 115-inch cinema screen placed about 10 feet away, watching content on SPECS is cinematic and immersive. And SPECS AR glasses feature a Travel Mode which keeps the screen stable even on a moving train or flight.

With Spotify, SPECS provide the right soundtrack for whatever you're doing. Whether you're looking for music, or your next podcast, just tell SPECS what you're in the mood for, or take a picture, and Spotify can take it from there to recommend a playlist based on the moment.

Being together is part of what makes us human. It should be part of computing, too. With Connected Lenses, digital experiences can be shared in the same physical space. Games like Jimmy Butler's new Dominoes Lens, Chess, Table Tennis, and more make it fun to challenge your friends wherever you are.

And when you're apart, SPECS offer new ways to help you stay in touch with the people who matter most. Bluetooth pairing lets you connect SPECS to your phone so you can take calls, see notifications, and listen to music while keeping your hands free and your attention on the world around you.

We also redesigned Snapchat just for SPECS AR glasses. With Snapchat on SPECS, simply snap your fingers to take a Snap, or start a hands-free video call.

Privacy is deeply important to us and is built into the design of SPECS AR glasses. SPECS do not use facial recognition to identify people. SPECS do not record the world to understand it, and don't continuously record or save audio, video, or photos. When a wearer takes a photo or records video or audio, a prominent external LED in the center of the frames lights up or flashes to let people nearby see that recording is happening. To make sure the user stays in control, you choose what information and services SPECS can access, and Lenses will ask before accessing sensitive information.

With SPECS Intelligence, you choose what you connect and what information SPECS Intelligence can use. SPECS Intelligence is designed so Snap personnel cannot view or access the personal content you use with the service. We do not use personal content from connected accounts to train or fine-tune AI models or to serve you personalized ads. SPECS Intelligence uses on-device processing and secure cloud infrastructure, with security protections wherever data is processed.

Learn more about our approach to privacy at specs.com/privacy.

SPECS can also help you translate a conversation, find your way around a new city, or see how a new purchase would fit in your home.

With Translation, SPECS AR glasses can overlay closed captions when someone speaks in a different language. Supporting 60 languages, SPECS tracks the speaker, translates their words into your language of choice, and displays subtitles directly in your field of view.

Navigation on SPECS AR glasses takes on a whole new dimension. While walking, you can input a destination or, for a hands-free experience, tell SPECS where you want to go. You'll get directions overlaid on the world with optional voice guidance. The guidance arrows move with you as you go to keep you heading in the right direction.

And with Tripadvisor, when you're out in the world SPECS can help you find nearby restaurants, landmarks, and experiences, get recommendations in the moment, translate reviews and local phrases, and convert currency.

SPECS AR glasses make online shopping more immersive and practical. Powered by the Shopify Catalog, you can browse products in 3D and place them at full scale in the room around you to see how a potential purchase would fit in your home. When you're ready to buy, you can checkout and purchase right from the retailer's website.

SPECS can transform almost any location into an immersive, flexible workspace. SPECS can connect to your computer wirelessly, expanding your workstation beyond the boundaries of a traditional desktop.

Experiences like Whiteboard turn any room into an area for brainstorming and organizing. Whiteboard makes it easy to brainstorm, organize workflows, create diagrams, and more from wherever you are. And SPECS support bluetooth peripherals like keyboards, making it easy to edit documents on-the-go from anywhere.

For businesses, we are partnering with a wide range of enterprise partners including Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, Trifork, Hololight, and more to bring SPECS capabilities directly to where work happens. The majority of jobs aren't desk jobs. With SPECS enterprise partners, we are bringing computing beyond the desk to support use cases across store floors, inside factories, or in the field, where workers need their hands free and their eyes up.

To learn more about SPECS Enterprise offerings, head here.

To help you stay connected even when you're away from Wi-Fi, we're introducing a new SPECS Charging Case with Cellular. Sold separately, it provides four additional charges and offers cellular connectivity from leading wireless carriers around the world, so you can stay powered and connected wherever you go.

In the US, we're partnering with Verizon to make it easier for people to try, buy, and stay connected with SPECS AR glasses. With Verizon, SPECS customers will have access to custom data plans, flexible financing, intuitive digital setup, and hands-on experiences in select Verizon stores.

The SPECS Connected Case bundle will be available for $2,395. Verizon will offer eligible customers financing options, including a 36 month payment plan. Connected Wearable data plans are available from $10/month for Verizon customers and from $20/month for non-Verizon customers.

We’re also partnering with global carriers, including Orange in France, and EE in the UK. Data plans will be available through the respective carrier partners, with pricing details to come.

The experiences we're sharing today are just a starting point. Developers have been building alongside us throughout this journey, and we look forward to continuing to make Lens creation and creativity easy and accessible through Lens Studio.

The best way to truly understand SPECS AR glasses is to try them. Beginning October 1, the SPECS First Look will be available at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. There, you can experience SPECS in person, meet members of the team, and check out what we're building. As more experiences become available, the SPECS First Look will evolve, with new content and reasons to come back throughout the holiday season.

Shipping is expected to begin later this fall in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. To learn more and pre-order SPECS for $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit, visit SPECS.com.