In just a couple of months, Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap Inc—the driving force behind Snapchat and those intriguing Spectacles AR glasses—is set to step up on stage at AWE 2025. This event, slated for June, is a prime opportunity for him to showcase Snap’s latest strides in the world of augmented reality. With this coveted slot on the event schedule, Snap is looking to cement its place in the ever-evolving XR industry.
Even though Snap has positioned itself as one of the only companies offering truly standalone AR glasses, their Spectacles, it remains somewhat of an outsider in the burgeoning XR community. The reason? Snap has taken a different road compared to some of the other big names in AR.
While standalone devices like the Quest or popular VR platforms like PC VR and PSVR 2 have largely catered to gamers, and Apple’s Vision Pro is making waves in entertainment and productivity circles, Snap’s Spectacles are all about social interactions. They emphasize experiences that are either tied to specific locations or shared among multiple users in the same physical space.
Come June, Snap’s co-founder Evan Spiegel will stand before the crowd at AWE 2025, one of the world’s foremost XR-based conferences, aiming to share Snap’s vision for AR. His presence there underscores an effort to bridge gaps and gain more traction within the XR industry. The event will take over Long Beach, California, from June 10th to 12th, expected to draw in over 6,000 attendees, accompanied by 300 exhibitors, 400 speakers, and a sprawling 150,000-square-foot expo. If you’re quick, you can still snag early-bird tickets, and Road to VR readers get a sweet 20% discount.
Spiegel will be joined on stage by industry stalwarts like Qualcomm and XREAL, companies that are already well-rooted both at the conference and in the broader industry landscape. It’s somewhat ironic—Snap’s commitment to building an AR platform from scratch is a double-edged sword, setting it apart but also keeping it as a bit of an underdog in the XR sector.
Unlike others, Snap is not just tinkering with AR glasses; they’re developing Snap OS, a custom-made operating system for Spectacles. On top of that, they have crafted their own authoring tool—Lens Studio—which developers must master, as opposed to using more conventional tools like Unity. This bespoke approach means that porting existing XR content isn’t exactly straightforward. Still, their dedication reflects an authentic belief in the future of XR.
According to Scott Myers, Snap’s VP of Hardware, the company aspires for Spectacles to transcend Snapchat. They even envision a future where glasses like Spectacles replace smartphones. This is the idea behind designing them to work independently, without needing a phone tethered. “We want people to look up through their glasses, not down at their smartphone,” Myers remarks.
While focusing on social and location-based AR experiences, Snap is also laser-focused on creating a developer-friendly platform. With top-notch tools and an unyielding push to improve based on feedback, Snap is on a mission to make a difference. Myers himself is a frequent user, donning Spectacles nearly daily to test out new features. “We’re learning alongside developers to make the development process as seamless as possible,” he shares.
Snap will indeed have to navigate this rapidly competitive space carefully, as tech behemoths like Meta, Apple, and Google are all competing to be first past the post in creating mainstream AR glasses.
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