Snap Inc., the company behind the popular social media app Snapchat, has announced its latest venture into the world of augmented reality (AR) with the introduction of its new AR glasses, called Specs, scheduled for release in 2026. The announcement was made at the Augmented World Expo 2025, marking Snap’s continued efforts to establish itself in the wearable AR market.
Key Features of Snap’s AR Glasses
The upcoming Specs are designed to be lightweight and AI-enhanced, capable of overlaying digital content onto the physical world. According to Snap’s official press release, the device will support a range of features including real-time translation, interactive gaming, and AI-assisted tasks through integrations with OpenAI and Google’s Gemini.
Augmented Reality Capabilities
Snap has highlighted existing AR applications such as Super Travel for language translation and Cookmate for recipe guidance as examples of the potential use cases for the potential use cases for Specs. The company boasts an ecosystem that currently sees 8 billion daily interactions through Snapchat Lenses, with more than 4 million AR filters created by 400,000 developers.
Updates to SnapOS
To further support AR development for the new hardware, Snap has also introduced updates to SnapOS. These updates include improved 3D object generation and multilingual speech recognition, enhancing the overall AR experience.
Competition and Future Prospects
However, key details such as pricing, battery life, final design, and distribution plans for Specs were not disclosed. This lack of information leaves open questions about how Specs will compete with upcoming AR devices from rivals like Meta and Google, both of which are also heavily investing in wearable AR technology.
Snap’s previous attempts to market smart glasses, starting with its first Spectacles in 2016, have seen limited commercial success, as reported by TechCrunch. The company is now positioning Specs as a more advanced product, but whether it can gain broader adoption remains uncertain. The 2026 launch will serve as a test of whether Snap can successfully translate its AR software expertise into a viable hardware business.
