Snapchat is now known as Snap Inc., and the company has released its first ever hardware product, the Spectacles. In essence, Spectacles is a pair of sunglasses with a camera attached to them; it is meant to offer a more natural recording experience that smartphones’ cameras simply cannot offer.
The Spectacles works in a very simple manner: users simply have to press on a single button to start recording a 10-second video with the 115-degree lens of the camera, which is said to be similar to the eyes’ natural field of view. The recorded video is also circular, which – again – is meant to simulate the human vision. Unfortunately, it appears Spectacles will only work with Snapchat; videos recorded with it will be synced wirelessly to the Snapchat app.
It’s easy to think of the Spectacles as a silly product. After all, even Snap’s CEO and co-founder, Evan Spiegel, referred to it as a toy, which is “to be worn for kicks at a barbecue or an outdoor concert.” On top of that, the Spectacles will not be widely available once it starts rolling out as well.
However, the Spectacles does have a lot of potential. Speaking of his experience with a prototype of the Spectacles back in 2015, Spiegel told the Journal about how he could he could see his own memories through his own eyes. “It’s one thing to see images of an experience you had, but it’s another thing to have an experience of the experience. It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like I was there again,” he explained.
According to Snap, the Spectacles will start shipping sometime this fall; it will carry a $130 (about RM540) price tag. It will be available in three colours: coral, black, and teal. If you’d like to learn more about the Spectacles, you can do so on its official product page.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal, The Verge)
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