Snap’s New Spectacles Will Include Augmented Reality (Report)

The second version of Snap’s photo-taking sunglasses is in the works

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 2: A woman wears 'Snapchat Spectacles' on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), March 2, 2017 in New York City. Snap Inc. shares opened at 24 dollars per share on the NYSE. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Snap Inc. — the parent company of popular disappearing messaging app Snapchat — is working on an augmented reality-infused follow-up to Spectacles, its photo taking sunglasses, according to a report from TechCrunch.

The $130 sunglasses are able to shoot photos and videos while syncing with the user’s Snapchat account — giving Snapchatters another option to create content.

Its second version is underway and still under wraps. Only a handful of Snap employees know about the product’s attributes or release date, but it is expected to have AR features built-in, according to the report.

The development certainly make sense. Snapchat had recently pushed further into AR when it launched “world lenses,” allowing users to overlay 3D stickers onto their pictures. And a report from Mashable last month highlighted a Snap patent for Spectacles with AR.

Location-based tech would trigger digital content to appear on a user’s screen in the updated version of Spectacles. Snap’s example from the patent? A terrifying Jurassic Park-like T-Rex stomping around, of course.

Snap started selling its glasses last fall, with customers lining up for hours to buy Spectacles from vending machines in select locations. Spectacles were available to everyone in the US starting in February. Snap recently expanded its sales of Spectacles to Europe.

While the hardware debuted to heavy media coverage, sales appeared to wane. Snap announced it brought in $8 million in revenue from Spectacles in the first quarter. TheWrap calculated this to be about 65,000 pairs sold — or around one in every 2,600 Snapchatters buying a pair.

No word on when the new version of Spectacles will be available.

Snap did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

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