Although Snap has not yet disclosed the specific apps or features that wearers can access via their Specs, the new Specs.com site features examples of real-time translations, directions, and hands-free calls overlaid across the lenses. Unlike Snap\u2019s OG smart glasses and Meta\u2019s Ray-Ban AI glasses, the focus is less on content capture and more on real-time everyday assistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Specs, AI is not intelligence trapped in a chatbox,\u201d Spiegel said in a note announcing the product. \u201cIt is intelligence that can see what you see, understand what you\u2019re trying to do, and help you in the moment.\u201d It comes at a time when consumers are growing wary of smartphones and their addictive applications<\/a>, and paying significant money for devices and offline initiatives that help limit their screen time. But there\u2019s little evidence to suggest that consumers will warm to a new device that brings all these applications even closer to their faces.<\/p>\n What else is out there?<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s Ray-Ban Display AI glasses are smaller and lighter than Snap\u2019s new specs, more closely resembling ordinary Ray-Ban glasses. Snap has also followed Meta\u2019s lead with an LED light that indicates when the wearer is recording in the glasses\u2019 in-built camera \u2014\u00a0a feature that wearers will likely be able to easily circumvent as they have with Meta\u2019s, causing privacy concerns<\/a> among those in the wearer\u2019s vicinity. Snap says that its new Specs process data on-device, and that wearers will be able to control what gets stored, synced, shared, or deleted.<\/p>\n By including a larger AR display and more immersive features, Snap\u2019s Specs integrate some elements of Apple\u2019s Vision Pro headset into a much smaller product. Where Apple\u2019s headsets impressed the market with their computing power, they\u2019ve failed to take off among consumers, largely due to their bulky design, 650g weight, and inaccessible price. Their design also creates a significant physical barrier between the wearer and others in their surroundings \u2014\u00a0something that Snap is managing to combat by disguising its AR technology within a relatively appealing frame size.<\/p>\n