Snap’s AR vision is about Spectacles—and a whole lot more
... Last May, Snap unveiled the new, AR-enabled version of Spectacles, which are indeed known simply as “the new Spectacles.” Rather than selling them like previous versions, Snap acknowledges that they’re currently an experiment, not a product. ...
But Snap is also experimenting with the medium on one of the biggest tapestries imaginable: Snapchat itself. ... According to Snap, 200 million people use them a day, racking up six billion daily interactions.
... these Spectacles look more like hip sunglasses than a headset, and weigh less than a third of a pound. ...
None of the AR experiences I tried while wearing the Spectacles were the sort of killer app that would sell a fully commercialized version of these glasses on its own. But they were all reasonably slick and fun to try. ... —a restaurant menu I could peruse with a mid-air swiping gesture— ...
The dual 3D waveguide displays that overlay digital imagery on the real world were bright enough that they didn’t get bleached out by the sun. But they have a field of view that measures 26.3 degrees diagonally, which means that you can’t always see larger elements...
“My team is basically trying to make the Snapchat camera smarter, to understand everything in the world around it,” says Qi Pan, Snap’s director of computer vision engineering. ...
It also introduced another feature called Local Lenses that allows multiple people in the same physical area to engage in shared AR experiences—such as bedecking London’s Carnaby Street shops in virtual paint. ...
Last month, the company released a technology called Custom Landmarkersthat allows users of its Lens Studio AR design software to tie the experiences they create to a specific physical location—from a statue to a storefront—so that they’re visible to people who are actually there. ...
But as Snap’s platform transcends the amusing, chat-enhancing AR special effects it started with, it’s becoming a viable alternative for more ambitious storytelling. ...
See the full story here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90737627/snaps-ar-vision-is-about-spectacles-and-a-whole-lot-more?fbclid=IwAR1MNXVR1DViATZlC216z4yHP0yMPzu803IHKI7Bs-3TwOCCQChmYxA_e2w
