In a recent interview with CNBC, Evan Spiegel, Snap’s CEO, explained that the Snap Spectacles AR smart glasses have reached its “5th generation,” the developer-only model is ready for AR content creators to design new immersive experiences and applications to launch smart glasses into the mainstream-a long term goal of firms like Meta.
“I think we’re at a unique moment where both consumers and developers are really ready for something new,” said Spiegel, keen to highlight the developer opportunities in the Snap AR device.
The CEO also explained that the latest Spectacles iteration contains a new operating system “based on natural interaction.”
Spiegel added:
You just use your hands and your voice to interact with augmented reality. What’s so exciting about Spectacles is that it brings us closer to our vision for people using computing together, grounded in the real world with their friends. That’s something we’ve been working on for a long time now.
Spiegel noted that “we’re at a bit of a watershed moment,” which could lead to the much-awaited upward adoption curve that AR hardware vendors are waiting for.
The Snap CEO also added that “people are getting fed up with their screens and the way that they make them feel, and developers are feeling frustrated about developing for the smartphone platform,” leading to Snap’s development of smart glasses-which started a few years ago, alognside the development of an AR drone which is now discontinued.
Is Snap Taking the AR Lead?
While Snap’s stock has experienced recent downturns, the firm believes a wealthy AR market allows Snap to confidently invest in smart glasses. Meta, Apple, and others are joining the space if rumours are to be believed. On the other hand, there is already a market for enterprise AR headsets, so the market is still very much open to new players such as Snap.
Moreover, by launching as a developer-facing device, Snap can work on creating an ecosystem of potential system-selling content by giving developers a far lower entry price compared to headsets from Meta and Apple. However, this stands at a $99 per month.
Speaking on Apple and Meta’s recent efforts to create AR/MR devices, Spiegel noted, “we’ve also yet to see augmented reality glasses from either of those companies, so it’ll be interesting to see if they follow our lead here.”
This is a curious comment for numerous reasons, as Snap’s “lead” could be debated as industry AR leaders like XREAL, Vuzix, Brilliant Labs, Even Realites, and RealWear offer AR passthrough smart glasses-moreover, Meta’s Ray Ban Stories AR device has reported great sales success.
Meanwhile, MR devices like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest3 also allow for AR-style passthrough—granted, those are not lightweight smart glasses devices like Snap’s developer device.
However, the Snap Spectacles are not as small as other upcoming smart glasses products, again, like Meta’s Ray Ban Stories. Again, Snap’s device is for developers, not consumers, so the design could easily change once the device is in the consumer market.
Although Snap is still very much able to lead the AR race, established AR hardware firms are still working towards ubiquity. Other leading technology firms like LG and Samsung are due to debut new devices on the market, but those rumours are slim.
What this means is that despite some rocky developments for Snap’s AR hardware in the past year, the firm may be on the right path to becoming an AR device leader, even if it has not reached that point yet.
Despite debates on which firm is the leader in the smart glasses race, Spiegel notes Snap’s passion for the technology.
Spiegel said:
The reason why we’re so convinced that AR glasses are the path forward is because people are getting tired of screens. We’ve worked really hard to try to innovate with screens to make them better, to make them more fun to use. But at the end of the day, they’re just screens, and people feel isolated by their screens. They feel like it takes them away from their friends and family. Glasses are a way to use computing that actually brings us together and keeps us connected with the real world.
Snap aims to capitalize on the expanding market for AR smart glasses. According to projections by Future Market Insights, the AR smart glasses market is expected to experience significant growth over the next decade. The report “Residential and Commercial Smart Glass Market Outlook from 2024 to 2034” forecasts that the global market size will reach $58,248 million in 2024 and is projected to grow to $187,475 million by 2034.
