Snap's Latest Specs Ai Updates Prove That It's Taking Smart Glasses Seriously (but In A Different Way)

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Snap unveiled updates to Lens Studio. 
• Now it is easier to build engaging Lenses (AR experiences). 
• These Lenses will beryllium disposable successful nan Specs coming successful 2026. 

Snap has been successful nan smartglasses abstraction for complete a decade and is gearing up to yet motorboat its first brace of user AR/AI glasses, Specs, successful 2026. Today, nan institution launched updates that will alteration unsocial experiences crossed Snapchat, Spectacles, and, eventually, its upcoming smartglasses. 

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On Thursday, Snap celebrated a decade of Lenses successful what nan institution called Lens Fest 2025. The institution made Lenses (the AR experiences recovered connected Snapchat), Spectacles (Snap's developer AR glasses), and Camera Kit (Snap's cross-platform SDK for integrating AR experiences successful iOS, Android, and web apps) easier to build, resulting successful much engaging and realistic experiences.

You tin now build caller Lenses

In Lens Studio, which powers Snapchat, Camera Kit, and Specs, developers tin now utilize Realistic StyleGen to create scenes pinch "true-to-life fit, texture, lighting, and perspective," according to nan company. Similarly, nan institution noted that nan adjacent loop of FaceML provides developers pinch amended power complete quality qualities, including hair, facial geometry, and expression, erstwhile creating Lenses. 

Other upgrades see classical selfie lenses pinch improved AR placement, a caller editor that makes it easier to create look effects specified arsenic constitution and sparkles, and AI clips (coming soon), which alteration users to create image-to-video Lenses. 

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Lens Studio AI besides makes it easier than ever to build Lenses, allowing users to simply picture what they would for illustration nan extremity merchandise to beryllium and time off nan coding and debugging to nan AI. Lens Studio AI tin besides propose assets and supply step-by-step guides. 

A caller Blocks framework, disposable successful Lens Studio AI, enables users to build straight connected nan level furniture utilizing modular, AR-ready components. The Blocks users create tin past beryllium kept backstage aliases published. For on-the-go building, nan Lens Studio updates are disposable connected some mobile and web, arsenic are Blocks and nan chat-based creation tool. 

The Camera Kit, contempt still being free, nary longer includes Snap branding by default, which gives developers much flexibility. Snap is besides expanding its Lens Creator Rewards pinch Lens+ Payouts, which allows creators to gain money based connected engagement pinch their Lenses, sloppy of whether they are games, AI experiences, effects, aliases different content. 

Specs and Spectacles

All of nan Lenses built coming will beryllium disposable connected Specs, which are group to motorboat adjacent year. This suggests that Snap is committed to processing smartglasses that supply entertaining experiences alternatively than functioning arsenic contented creation tools, which is much Meta's attack to AI-powered smartglasses. 

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One period ago, Snap released Snap OS 2.0, nan strategy presently underlying its Spectacles that will besides tally connected Specs erstwhile they release. Some highlights see an overhauled Spectacles Browser pinch a caller minimalist design, a caller location surface pinch widgets and bookmarks, and AR experiences from immoderate WebXR-enabled website. 

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Building connected nan Snap OS 2.0 experience, Snap has now launched Travel Mode, which lets users acquisition AR connected nan go, and EyeConnect, which allows users to acquisition co-located Lenses simply by looking astatine nan personification adjacent to them. Snap besides announced partnerships pinch Star Wars: Holocron Histories, Synth Riders, and Paramount's Avatar: The Last Airbender connected Spectacles. 

Other announcements included Snap Cloud, which provides developers pinch nan infrastructure to build Lenses, including instant APIs, unafraid storage, and more. Additionally, Snap expanded Lens Games successful Snapchat done a caller Games Chat Drawer and caller components for streamlining workflows erstwhile creating these gamified experiences.