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Back in September 2016, Snap Inc. came up with its first electronic product “Spectacles”. As such Snap Inc. needs no introduction, but this is the same parent company behind the image messaging and multi-media mobile application Snapchat.
So to give you a brief, Spectacles are the first camera-equipped goggles from Snap Inc. that comes with video-recording capabilities. After its announcement in 2016, the Spectacles were only available through Snapbot vending machines placed across different cities in U.S.
This limited distribution was enough to create the initial buzz in the market. Yesterday, the company went to announce an online ordering option for easy availability to interested buyers. The Spectacles can be currently ordered for a price of $129 in three color options – coral, teal, and black.
Image Credit: TheNextWeb
Snapchat Spectacles and Details
So before we begin with understanding the details of “Spectacles”, take a look at the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=XqkOFLBSJR8
The Spectacles sunglasses come with a 115-degree camera that can record “round” video footage. Unlike ordinary glasses that record videos in the rectangular frame, the videos recorded by “Spectacles” allows the viewers on the Snapchat app to rotate their phones for viewing more footage in both portrait and landscape view.
To start the recording, just tap the button on the left corner of the Spectacles. A light will flash indicating that the glasses have now started recording. With the Spectacles, you can record video footages of up to a length of 30 seconds.
Image credit: Engadget
This video then automatically gets uploaded wirelessly to your linked Snapchat account when your phone is within the range. If your phone is not in range, the glasses will store the recorded video. This footage can then be shared across several social media platforms, apart from just Snapchat, like Twitter, Facebook and others.
The “Spectacles” comes in a case along with a dedicated charging cord and offers a battery life sufficient for a day’s long use.
Image Credit: PCMag
Spectacles and the Augmented Reality Touch
The recently introduced World Lenses feature in Snapchat, allows users to overlay animations on their faces. This new feature allows to distort the real-time video and react to actions like blinking your eyes or opening your mouth. This certainly resembles the ambitions of Snap Inc. of potentially using the augmented reality tech for future growth.
GIF Credit: Medium
Though for now, the Spectacles don’t offer any such feature, but a future update that lets you overlay these AR images on top of the Spectacles recorded video could be a possibility that cannot be written off.
Also, as per the recent talks in the industry, Snap Inc. seems to be majorly betting on its Snapchat Spectacles and further hardware developments in this direction. The company has currently decided to go public and filed for an IPO.
i was just wondering.. is there any other way to buy these glasses aside from online?
If you happen to be in U.S, you can check for Snapbot vending machines anywhere in your city… You might find your luck!
Glad to see SnapChat pushing these glasses. It’s still far from real VR/AR/MR/XR whatever glasses, but it shows where things are heading. Can’t wait til I can watch vr porn in these things 🙂