Snap (SNAP) on Wednesday launched its upcoming $2,195 Specs augmented reality glasses, providing insights into the eyewear’s capabilities and its new Specs Intelligence AI platform.
Specs, which the company initially revealed at the Augmented World Expo in June, are self-contained wearable computers, meaning they don’t need to be connected to an external device to run apps or other software.
Meta’s (META) $799 Ray Ban Display glasses require a compatible smartphone.
Specs also include two built-in displays for each lens. The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses have a single display in the lower right corner of the right lens.
Snap is framing Specs as a device for a variety of use cases, whether that’s playing augmented reality (AR) games with friends who have their own pair of Specs, using the glasses as a virtual big-screen TV or as an AR-powered navigation system.
They also come with Snap’s new Specs Intelligence platform, and an AI service designed to surface information relevant to you in your field of view
In a video demo, Snap showed a woman at the airport asking Specs about her flight’s status. Specs then replied that her gate had changed, but that she had plenty of time to get there.
The software, which will also be available via Mac and iPhone, connects to a variety of your apps, including Messages, Gmail, Slack, and others.
In a separate video demonstration, Snap showed a user using Specs Intelligence on the Mac to purchase tickets to a movie, the AI then navigated to the appropriate site, grabbed tickets, and then asked if it should complete the transaction.
Tech companies are rushing to add AI to their products at a breakneck pace, so it makes sense that Snap would launch Specs Intelligence now.
In addition to the consumer audience, Snap is also targeting Specs toward the enterprise space. With Salesforce, for example, Snap says workers can use Specs in the field to identify objects they’re working on and get relevant information.
The company says it’s also working with Nvidia to bring the chip giant’s AI agents to the glass to help a worker understand their surroundings.
Snap and Meta aren’t the only companies working in the smart glasses space. Samsung (005930.KS) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) are preparing to debut their respective eyewear, and Apple (AAPL) is reportedly hard at work on its own glasses.
But the technology has also drawn backlash of privacy concerns related to users surreptitiously filming others without their consent.
And while the Specs and Meta’s glasses have indicator lights designed to let people know when someone is filming. But tech journalist Joanna Stern found people on Facebook Marketplace who are willing to modify glasses like Meta’s to disable the lights.
