Hot on the tail of Niantic teasing a pair of AR glasses earlier this week, a new report from The Information says the company is readying a pair of its Spectacles glasses with proper AR functionality.
Snapchat has been selling its Spectacles camera-glasses since 2016. Now on its third generation, the Spectacles glasses capture video from a first person perspective, but don’t actually include a display; the video captured has to be played back on a smartphone or elsewhere and the user can add Snapchat AR filters after the fact.
Now the company is preparing to launch a proper AR version of its Spectacles glasses, according to a report by The Information citing sources ‘familiar with the company’s plans.’
The Spectacles AR glasses are said to initially be targeted toward developers, which the company hopes will build filters and other applications ahead of an eventual consumer offering.
Snapchat has been steadily moving toward head-worn AR with its Spectacles camera-glasses alongside AR face filters and ‘World Lenses’ which place AR effects into the world. In 2019 the company announced plans to raise $1 billion to continue its focus on the content, gaming, and AR features of its platform.