Snap has officially revealed the selling arrangements for its Snap Specs augmented reality, AI-based smart glasses first revealed earlier this year, However, the big news is a new “anticipatory” Specs Intelligence service that promises to surface useful information and actions “at the right moment,” so you aren’t bombarded with inescapable information sent directly into your eyeline.
The goal, the company says, is to “make computing more human”, via the $2,195 Qualcomm-powered glasses that’ll go on sale on October 1. At an launch event in Los Angeles today, the social media firm fleshed out the full information about the wearable it thinks can replace the smartphone (or at least lessen the reliance on it). Namely, via the AI-native operating system that will “help you get things done through natural interactions using your hands and voice.”
Images shared by the company today showed pinch and swipe gestures in front of the sensors, which can help users move around the interface and launch apps, games and services.
What is Specs Intelligence?
The main event, however, is Specs Intelligence. Snap says it will work across iPhone and Mac as a standalone AI assistant (which can be sampled in beta today), as well as being an embedded experience within Specs AR Glasses. It aims to “build understanding of your goals, priorities, relationships and routine from the apps and tools you choose to connect,” Snap says.
As such, it’ll help you slide between work and personal life, via an experience called Corners. It’ll also track progress towards what you want to achieve with an experience called Goals. The company says this will “help you focus on what matters now while making progress towards your longer-term goals.”
The proactive “anticipatory” element is designed to ensure you won’t be bombarded by notifications that are irrelevant to the current situation, while ensuring real world context and information is delivered to your field of view at the right time.
How does that work in reality? Well, before a trip you might combine and showcase your flight, hotel, or restaurant reservations, while also making you aware of the work deadline that’s stubbornly interrupting your vacation plans.
For requests, users will be able to say “Hey Specs” to prompt information about your day ahead, last-minute meeting prep, to play music via Spotify via a Bluetooth connected phone, or to make video calls.
Speaking of entertainment, Snap also promises content from YouTube or HBO Max which will be shown directly in the field of vision. That’ll feels like watching a 115-inch cinema screen from 10-feet away. More entertainment and educational experiences are promised too – including language translation, meditation sessions, and games of dominoes with NBA legend Jimmy Buttler.
Privacy
Snap is promising Specs won’t use facial recognition to identify people, nor will it continually record as it takes stock of the world around the wearer. Like the Meta glasses, media capture will be indicated by an LED light in the centre of the frames. Furthermore, Specs Intelligence uses on-device processing and secure cloud to process requests, while it says personal content will not be used to train AI models or serve targeted ads.
Release information
Specs will be available in the United States, United Kingdom and France initially. They can be pre-ordered now for $2,195. Specific UK price hasn’t been confirmed, but the company may just convert your pounds into dollars, making them $1,640 at today’s exchange rate. For more information about the specs, you can check our original news post about the hardware.
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