Whether you're a Snapchat queen or have only just figured out what a Snapchat streak is, this news is probably going to excited you: Snap Inc. is unveiling a wearable later this fall that will let you take video hands-free. What are Snapchat Spectacles, you ask? Think of them like an updated take on the wayside Google Glass — only, you know, way cooler.
Snapchat is all about rolling out new features, from voice-altering filters that make you look like a woodland creature to cool new ways to save your stories from disappearing into the Snapchat ethosphere permanently. Now, the newly rebranded Snap Inc., is working on an entirely different feature — wearable technology that seamlessly syncs a wireless camera with your app. In a blog post shared Sept. 24, Snap Inc. announced it was coming out with Spectacles, described as "sunglasses with an integrated video camera that makes it easy to create Memories." The sunglasses, which reportedly will cost $130, come in one size and three different colors: teal, black, and coral. They actually look surprisingly chic — less like something out of the future, and more like something I would pick up at Urban Outfitters the next time I'm in need of new sunnies.
The Spectacles themselves are pretty easy to use. According to Snap Inc., the glasses come equipped with one of the "smallest wireless video cameras in the world" that can take 10-second, eye-level video snaps when you tap on the glasses' frames. Use wi-fi to connect Spectacles to your Snapchat app, where you can save the videos you just took to your Memories. When you go back to play your video, it's kind of like you're watching the whole thing through your own eyes all over again. At least, that's the point anyway. In fact, it's this whole concept of reliving your own experiences that Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel tells the Wall Street Journal makes Spectacles so unique: "It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like I was there again," Spiegel said of his own experience watching videos he'd taken with Spectacles.
Here's what wearing Spectacles looks like in action:
Snap Inc. hasn't announced an exact release date for Spectacles, but we can likely expect them this fall. As someone who loses her mind every time a new Snapchat filter pops up, I find this news incredibly exciting. Here are some other Spectacles features to look forward to, while you wait for the wearable to drop:
1. Record videos that are up to 30 seconds long, hands-free
According to Tech Crunch, you can take 10-second videos by tapping your Spectacles frames once, and up to 30-second videos by tapping them three times. Also, you're taking them at eye-level, so when you go back to watch them, it will actually feel like you're reliving the experience all over again.
2. Spectacles battery life is expected to last a full day
Yep, a FULL day. My phone battery doesn't even last that long, most of the time.
3. They look awesome
There's nothing about these that feel outrageously tech-y or geeky. A little circle of LED lights near the lens lights up when you're taking video, so people will know when you're recording — which, frankly, seems to be one of the main things that sets Spectacles apart from, say, some fancy James Bond gadget.
I don't want to get too far ahead of myself or anything, but are there any plans in store to make Spectacles that instantly project the puppy dog filter on everyone who walks by you on the street? Because if you ask me, the opportunities for hilarity (and general cuteness) just seem too good to pass up.
