Apple To Create Snapchat Spectacles Competitor? New Report Claims Cupertino Giant Working On Smart Glasses With AR

Over the weekend, a limited number of Snapchat’s Spectacles sunglasses went on sale. The high-tech glasses that work with both Android and iOS devices records 10-second video clips that can be uploaded into Snapchat story. Since the $130 device is making waves and getting attention from the techie community, could Apple be also planning to release its own version of the Spectacles?

On Monday, unnamed sources told Bloomberg that Apple is planning to expand into digital glasses for its next endeavor in the wearable market. The Cupertino giant’s glasses project is said to be in the exploration phase for now, but the company could already have the fixed goal of producing glasses that would show images and other real-time data in the wearer’s field of vision. The glasses are also expected to connect wirelessly to Apple’s iPhones and work using augmented reality.

Given that the product is not going to focus on recording short video clips, the device couldn’t technically be considered as Apple’s direct competitor to Snapchat’s Spectacles. Instead, this could be Apple’s attempt at capturing the market that showed interest in Google’s dormant Google Glass wearables. Should this project progress, the tech community could expect Apple’s digital glasses to arrive possibly in 2018.

Per the leaksters who shared the information about Apple’s next wearable, a clear sign that Apple is serious about the project is how CEO Tim Cook has been acquiring projects and teams of developers to beef up the company’s AR technologies. Also, Cook, himself, has been quite vocal about his interest in AR, as per AppleInsider.

The Google Glass was introduced as an advanced head-mounted display that utilized augmented reality to display weather information directly in the user’s field of vision. It also allowed users to make calls and take photos. Unfortunately, privacy concerns caused a huge blow to the project, such that it was eventually stopped in January 2015. However, on the project’s official website, it is stated there that the journey of Google Glass has not ended yet. Google also stated that consumers will see the future versions of the smart glasses when they are ready.

Since the Google Glass is not an active product for the time being, this could be the perfect timing for Apple to introduce its own smart glasses, which are now believed to be part of the augmented reality projects of the tech giant. Another project that is making headlines recently pertains to the rumored full VR headset that the company could be launching in the near future.