26 Jun 2025
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Mike Boland
AWE Talks: Snap Makes AR Mainstream
AWE USA 2025
Welcome back to AWE Talks, our series that revisits the best AWE conference sessions. With AWE USA 2025 concluded, we have a fresh batch of session footage to sink our teeth into for weeks to come.
We continue the action this week with Snap CEO Evan Spiegel's first-ever AWE keynote. Carrying the conference's theme of XR's mainstream move, he shows how Snap is building an AR platform used 8 billion times per day.
See the summarized takeaways below, along with the full session video. Stay tuned for more video highlights each week and check out the full library of conference sessions on AWE’s YouTube Channel.
Speakers
Evan Spiegel, Co-founder & CEO, Snap
Speakers
Evan Spiegel, Co-founder & CEO, Snap
Key Takeaways & Analysis
– In discussions about XR's mainstream penetration, few realize Snap has already done it.
– Its Lenses are used 8 billion times daily, the equivalent of once-per-day per-human on Earth.
– Given 14 billion Google searches per day, Snap lenses are more than half of search.
– This comes from ample investment in AR, and the organizational drive to scale it.
– That investment includes platform development to make Lens Studio attractive to developers.
– And it's working, given 400,000 Lens developers worldwide and 4 million cumulative lenses.
– Snap also has an eye on the future with headworn AR development (more on that in a bit).
– Recent Lens Studio updates include things like its depth-catching API for more dimensional AR.
– This enables experiences like its visual billiards assistant, demonstrated on stage by Ori Inbar.
– Its speech recognition API meanwhile enables things like live captions and language translation.
– The 3D API lets developers place objects in space for more immersive games and experiences.
– Its VPS partnership with Niantic Spatial enables planet-scale geospatial AR content.
– Its Bluetooth API enables lenses that interact with physical objects, such as turning lights on.
– Its guided navigation can be used for wayfinding in use cases such as museum tours.
– Its fleet management and guided mode let such institutions manage several AR headsets.
– Lastly, Lens Studio will soon be integrating support for web XR for frictionless AR activation.
– But it's not just about software and platform updates. Snap continues to invest in AR hardware.
– Spiegel announced the 2026 release of its consumer-oriented glasses, known as Specs.
– These will be smaller and lighter than the current developer-only Spectacles (gen 5).
– They'll also be compatible with all of the Spectacles lenses being developed today.
– It appears that 2026 will be a big year for Snap, and for AR glasses.
For more color and depth, see the full panel discussion below...
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