Snapchat Releases Its First IRL Product, Spectacles

The lens was created to be wider than smartphone cameras, more closely mirroring the natural view of human eyes. Users tap a button near the hinge to record clips, which download wirelessly to smartphones. The video is recorded in a circular format, as Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel argues that the square and rectangle form that photos and videos now come in are a vestige of early photos being printed on paper.

Spiegel is downplaying expectations for his first hardware product, by describing Spectacles as a “toy”, and telling the Journal they will have limited distribution at first. But now the company is moving into the hardware business. Tech analysts speculated that the company would release glasses with a display, providing a digital overlay on people’s normal view of the world.

While the development of Spectacles was a closely-guarded secret, many people suspected that something along those lines was coming when Snapchat purchased Vergence Labs, a company that made video cameras contained in eyeglasses, back in 2014 for $15 million.

“I think the buck stops there”, Kayvan Mirza, chief executive of smart glasses maker Optinvent, said this week.

Numerous societal questions Glass raised remain unanswered. This is no surprise considering that many Snapchat users document their day-to-day lives using the app’s Stories feature, a temporary collection of photos and videos. Patrick Worfolk, senior vice president and chief technology officer at touchscreen technology supplier Synaptics, speculated this week that a Snapchat wearable would be for the “younger generation”.

According to the Journal, the Snapchat Spectacles record 10-second clips of video through its 115-degree-angle lens, which makes it closer to the human eye instead of traditional cameras. The Los Angeles company, valued at $18 billion by investors this year, will change its name to Snap Inc., reflecting its larger ambitions.

Meet Snap, Inc., a Venice, Calif. -based startup that’s behind the popular ephemeral messaging app Snapchat.