Snap releases augmented reality glasses; See how they work

Snap launched its first pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses at this year's Snap Partner Summit. The new Spectacles are for AR creators and will not be commercially available. These AR glasses allow creators to "overlay their Lenses directly onto the world, exploring new ways to fuse fun and utility through immersive AR."

Snap's latest pair of glasses can project Snapchat lenses into real-life environments through dual 3D waveguide displays and a 2.63-degree field of view. Spectacles are powered by the company's new Snap Spatial Engine, which offers creators six degrees of freedom and hand, marker, and surface tracking. In addition, the Spectacles are equipped with 2 RGB cameras, four built-in microphones, two stereo speakers and a touch panel.

See how they work:

"Lenses react quickly and appear accurately in your field of view with a 15-millisecond motion to photon latency, and the display dynamically adjusts up to 2000 Nits of brightness to explore AR indoors or outside," Snap explained in a blog.

The glasses can last 30 minutes on a single charge so that creators can experience AR lenses during that time. The AR glasses are also lightweight at 134 grams. Under the hood of the Spectacles, run Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR1 AR and VR processor.

A company spokesperson said that the Spectacles aren't for sale and are designed for augmented reality creators. AR creators can use Spectacles to test Lenses in real-time. The touch panel can be used to start the lens carousel. A right button activates "Scan" to determine the field of view and suggest relevant lenses. Creators can also use the "Voice Scan" option to launch Lenses using a voice command. To capture 10-second lens snapshots, there is a left button.

The new Spectacles are being tested by a select group of just seven creators. However, interested AR creators can visit Snap's Spectacles website to try out the new AR glasses.