Snapchat unveils £1600 standalone AR glasses with AI assistance

Snapchat has announced a pair of augmented reality glasses dubbed SPECS that can overlay “contextual AI assistance” over the world around you. The firm made a previous attempt at smart glasses in 2016, but they failed to take off with consumers and Snapchat took a £30m hit to its finances from the venture. Since then, a number of technologies have advanced that could give smart glasses more utility – particularly AI, which can provide far more context to surroundings that equivalent technologies could in 2016.  Snapchat is not the only social media firm taking on the augmented reality space, with Meta recently releasing models with Ray-Ban and Oakley that are equipped with cameras, microphones and AI capabilities. Unlike Meta’s devices, SPECS can operate entirely on their own and don’t need to be tethered to a smartphone. However, they come at a major cost premium, with a $2,195 (£1,636) starting price – far higher than Meta’s Ray-Bans, which start as low as £224. Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc, called the new device the “beginning of a new era in computing.”  “For decades, computers have asked us to look down, sit still, or step out of the moment,” he said. “SPECS
Read More