It's been a long time coming, but this week Snapchat announced the next stage of its augmented reality push with the launch of the first iteration of fully AR-enabled version of Spectacles smart glasses.

Though 'launch' probably isn't the word for this new, upgraded version of Spectacles, which can lay digital graphics atop a person's view of the real world will not be available to the general public, but rather the creators of AR, who then will essentially partner with Snapchat as to help in the next round of the development process.

This is a big step forward for AR usage and, seemsly, one step ahead of more giant players like Facebook and Apple, who also are busy developing their own AR glasses.

But for Snap, this has been in the works for years, dating back to the very first Spectacles in 2016. Which, really, have always seemed intended for this next leap.

Years of Development
At a time when Snapchat was releasing its Spectacles, the company also changed its description of which focused on being 'a camera company' rather than just a social application.
Back then, it appeared that Snap was merely doing this as a way not to compare itself to Facebook - at the time, Twitter was under significant criticism for failing to match the similar growth of The Social Network. However, the flip actually served an important purpose, in realigning what Snap was looking to accomplish, which, even back then, pointed towards advanced development in AR tools.

Spectacles, somehow, seemed made for this, and it almost sounded like Snapchat was rushed into releasing its camera-equipped glasses a bit too early, when it hasn't been able to fully build the required AR tech yet.

But Snap had already been working on it - weeks after Spectacles V1 was unveiled, Snapchat set up a new research and development facility in China, near where Spectacles were being manufactured, which would allow it to create its AR tools in secret behind the back of western media.

Snap also introduced World Lenses merely months following the Spectacles launch, which, again, indicated further development of AR.
Snap had everything it needed to provide an authentic, digital overlay of the real world; had the hardware device on sale, which was being received with tons of hype. It just had to combine the two.
Which, apparently, proved much more challenging in practice than Snap had seemingly anticipated.
Spectacles Stumbles
The first version of Spectacles did not meet the hoped-for sales projections by Snap and resulted in hundreds of thousands of units unsold and sitting in storage facilities. That combined with rising success of Instagram Stories, which was a duplicate of Snap's own Stories feature, seemed to pose a real threat to the very existence of the company, with debts rising, and user growth slowing, and Snap appearing to have gambled too much on the future of AR to help lift it to the next stage.
This caused a strong refocus at the company, and in the last couple of years, Snap has succeeded in rebalancing its app and, by extension, the company, around a more specific, niche use case-around connecting close friends and offering a more privacy-focused take on messaging.

From there, Snap was able to re-grow its platform, rising from the debris left by Facebook's replication and strengthening its main platform, which also saw massive growth when Snap updated its Android app in 2019. Long considered an afterthought for the company, Snap's Android re-awakening has now seen it catch on with Indian users in particular, which has helped fuel nine quarters of steady growth for the app.

But AR has always been its strength. It is probably Snapchat's Lenses that first brought many people to the app to try them out, and they remain a big driver of awareness.

Snap's AR glasses may be new, but really, this has been what the company focused on all along. It hasn't really been able to take the leap until now.

The Future of Digital Connection
Make no mistake, AR is going to be huge and will form the next stage of digital connection.

Yes, VR is also a huge advance, major potential to build wholly immersive digital worlds. But AR can work complementary with your everyday life and can even enhance your real-world experience with helpful prompts and pointers, along with interactive games, graphics, etc.
Again, Snapchat's Lenses have already proven to be a big winner in helping the company raise awareness and gain market traction. Therefore, it is relatively easy to imagine these types of advanced overlays, which are now possible in Snap's new Spectacles (this is an example from the actual new device), being a major winner, and helping to merge our online and real-world environments in totally new and engaging ways.
This is probably why AR will turn out to be much more important than VR. Sure, the thorough, full-on nature of VR can transport you to other whole worlds, but that also requires you to essentially leave your world behind, so to speak. AR works in complement to your actual life - so whereas VR sets up a new plane of existence, AR boosts your current one, which will likely, eventually, make it a much more popular and valuable addition to people's daily lives. And Snap may well be at the front of that next shift.

Of course, Facebook and Apple have more money, and a lot of other tech companies are putting their hard-earned dollars into creating their own AR tools. But Snapchat has consistently demonstrated that it is highly in-touch with its user communities, with a penchant for producing more engaging, interesting AR tools and options.

Maybe that won't be a concern for utilitarians in practice, with the ultimate success of AR being contingent on what it can do for you, and how it can improve your daily life. But Snap is investing in new tools on this front as well, with additional scanning options and processes that will eventually power whole new experiences via its Spectacles device.

Imagine tapping on your Spectacles to get an immediate price comparison for an item that you’re looking at in-store, or getting recipe insights overlaid on your view when looking over the items in your fridge. Snap’s expanded scanning system will be able to do this, which is why Snap’s gradual shift towards making its scan tools more of a focus in the app are also significant.

After its varied experience in developing its AR tools, Snap knows that it’s not just the technology, but also user behavior that needs to evolve, which is a key element in its strategic approach towards merging people into the next stage of an AR-enabled existence.
And now, we’re into the next major shift for AR, and the next big evolution for Snapchat.
This is the focus for the company, its key chance to become a much bigger player in the market. And Snap is already investing big-it's acquired FitAnalytics for its AR try-on tools, Pixel8Earth for expanded AR mapping, and most recently, WaveOptics, the supplier of the AR displays that form a key component of its new Spectacles offering.

All will play important roles in helping shape Snap's advance-while new integrations such as this one with Disney will also help increase awareness and make Snap itself synonymous with AR tech.

This is an enormous opportunity for Snap, one which, as noted, it's been working toward for most of its existence.
It may not be the case right now, but soon enough, AR will feature in most of your day-to-day interactions, and if Snap can get it right, it will also be playing a big part in that process.

It's a massive bet, but one Snap increasingly appears to be on the right side of.