Yes, the reports  are  true: Snap has made a new pair of augmented-reality glasses. Unlike the company’s earlier smart glasses, which had built-in c

Snap Made AR Glasses—but You Won’t Be Buying Them

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2021-05-20 18:30:03

Yes, the reports are true: Snap has made a new pair of augmented-reality glasses. Unlike the company’s earlier smart glasses, which had built-in cameras but didn’t do anything holographic, these new AR glasses project virtual images into the world directly in front of the wearer. But like those earlier smart glasses, almost no one will buy these.

I mean that literally: No one will buy these, because right now they’re not for sale. The new Snap AR glasses are for app developers. Even app developers won’t have to purchase them, though they’ll have to apply to receive a pair, because Snap just really, really wants people to make AR apps. Compelling, visually stunning apps. Apps that help explain why technologists are so darn excited about augmented reality—because right now, AR has mostly been realized through some combination of Pokémon Go, virtual measuring tape on your phone, unsexy enterprise software, and an overhyped, well-funded headset maker in Florida.

Ask Evan Spiegel, Snap’s chief executive, what his favorite app is on these new augmented-reality glasses, and the answer might surprise you. It’s a poetry app, one that makes words appear in front of your eyes as you navigate the real world. “This may sound a little esoteric, but the way the words relate to the physical space that you’re in, and bring a totally different dimension to the poem—I thought that was interesting, when you look at the future of creativity,” Spiegel says.

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