Introduction to Snap Spectacles
The room was stuffed with late afternoon light, and I spotted almost a dozen Snap Spectacles AR glasses, all lined up on a shelf, just waiting for me to grab one. I didn’t because I used to be there to find out how these wearables are slowly making their way into the true world with the assistance of some intrepid developers. Organized by Snap, the comfortable event highlighted businesses and developers profiting from early access to the AR glasses at the same time as consumers wait for full access.
Developers and Their Projects
Small clusters of Snap execs, product managers, and entrepreneurs gathered, all chatting about AR-enhanced projects while feasting on canapés. I sidled as much as Russell Patton, Product Manager at Snap, who was chatting with Ray Kallmeyer, CEO of Enklu. I didn’t need to eavesdrop, but was curious to listen to more about what gave the impression of a wild latest fifth-generation Snap Spectacles experience.
My Experience with Snap’s Latest AR Gear
My own experience with Snap’s latest AR gear was limited to a 2024 rooftop session with the quite big and heavy Michael Caine-style eyewear. Since November, developers have had access to Spectacles for a $99-a-month subscription fee, and plenty of have been using Snap Studio to construct fresh Spectacles AR integrations. In some ways, I didn’t find Spectacles quite as impressive as Meta’s Orion AR eyewear, that are lighter, somewhat less bulky, and offered, in my experience, a wider field of view. However, the more I used Snap Spectacles and experienced the gesture-friendly interface, the more fun I had.
Verse Immersive: A New Way to Experience AR
I casually advanced to face the 2 men, who stopped speaking and stared at me for a second. Had I inadvertently walked into a non-public Snap conversation? Kallmeyer, though, smiled broadly, offered me a hand, after which quickly explained his business, Verse Immersive, which is laser-tag-like AR experiential spaces nestled in local movie theaters worldwide. Kallmeyer initially launched Verse Immersive with Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality headsets but in recent months, they have been piloting using Snap’s Spectacles in select cities like Chicago.
How Verse Immersive Works
The roughly 1,200 square feet spaces dotted across the US and even in some European locations feature custom, purpose-built spaces designed to reinforce the AR experience. Kallmeyer told me they put a variety of work into every little thing, "so it feels special". But then it "all fades into the background" when wearing the AR glasses. Visitors move concerning the space and interact with wild landscapes, characters, and objects using their voices and hands. Versa Immersive takes advantage of Spectacle’s hand-tracking capability, which lets customers interact with objects and forged spells.
The Future of Snap Spectacles
As for the sorts of games people play in these spaces, Kallmeyer said they’re "more like Zynga than Call of Duty". For now, there are not any recognizable brands in these games, but Kallmeyer told me they might have an announcement on some mental property integrations early next month. It costs roughly a dollar a minute for every thirty- to sixty-minute experience. While you continue to cannot buy a pair of fifth-gen Snap Spectacles, you possibly can bring your personal pair if and when you possibly can and should even get a reduction on the value of a session.
Conclusion
Snap is paying close attention to those early integrations and meets with the Versa Immersive team as often as twice per week, sometimes to troubleshoot, other times to discover improvements that may upgrade the AR experience. Patton, who stood beaming like a proud parent through much of the discussion, would not tell me when we will expect Snap Spectables’ general availability. "Right now [we’re] still focused on developer availability," he said, and added, "We need to improve form factor and features that customers and developers see. We need to get to the correct spot," said Patton. I assume that spot shall be on my face within the not-too-distant future.
