5 Feb 2026
|
Mike Boland
AWE Talks: Snap Primes the Expansion from Handheld to Headworn
Welcome back to AWE Talks, our series that revisits the best AWE conference sessions. With AWE EU 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's evolution as it extends its AR business from handheld to headworn. How is its platform development today paving the way for its consumer Spectacles launch later this year?
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
Qi Pan: Snap
Key Takeaways & Analysis
– Snap is currently the engagement and revenue leader in mobile AR.
– That includes 8 billion mobile lens engagements per day on Snapchat.
– These are monetized to a degree, given brand-sponsored lenses.
– The name of the game is to cultivate mobile AR while priming headworn AR.
– The latter will inflect later this year with the launch of consumer Spectacles.
– Though Spectacles already exist, the current (Gen 5) is developer only.
– With that developer head start, consumer Specs will hit the ground running.
– This also requires Specs-focused updates to Lens Studio and Snap OS.
– These platform developments are in high gear in advance of Specs launch.
– For example, Lens Studio now boasts real-time edits and lens prototyping.
– Developers can build apps as they test features in real time on Spectacles.
– Meanwhile, the new UI Kit lets devs design interactions like buttons & sliders.
– Social functionality is also infused, such as co-location and spatial anchoring.
– This works towards the goal (and Snap's DNA) for social interaction in AR.
– Gaming is also increasingly empowered in Lens Studio for AR mini-games.
– Lastly, AI lenses are a sizable area of development for more dimensional lenses.
– AI lenses can do things like interact with physical spaces in more dynamic ways.
– This pace of platform development will continue as we approach Specs' launch.
Choice Quotes
– Snap is currently the engagement and revenue leader in mobile AR.
– That includes 8 billion mobile lens engagements per day on Snapchat.
– These are monetized to a degree, given brand-sponsored lenses.
– The name of the game is to cultivate mobile AR while priming headworn AR.
– The latter will inflect later this year with the launch of consumer Spectacles.
– Though Spectacles already exist, the current (Gen 5) is developer only.
– With that developer head start, consumer Specs will hit the ground running.
– This also requires Specs-focused updates to Lens Studio and Snap OS.
– These platform developments are in high gear in advance of Specs launch.
– For example, Lens Studio now boasts real-time edits and lens prototyping.
– Developers can build apps as they test features in real time on Spectacles.
– Meanwhile, the new UI Kit lets devs design interactions like buttons & sliders.
– Social functionality is also infused, such as co-location and spatial anchoring.
– This works towards the goal (and Snap's DNA) for social interaction in AR.
– Gaming is also increasingly empowered in Lens Studio for AR mini-games.
– Lastly, AI lenses are a sizable area of development for more dimensional lenses.
– AI lenses can do things like interact with physical spaces in more dynamic ways.
– This pace of platform development will continue as we approach Specs' launch.
Choice Quotes
People are not necessarily waking up and thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to use AR.' What they're thinking is, 'How do I express myself quickly? How do I communicate with a friend and show my emotions?' And that's the way we like it. We want people to see the benefits and the value it adds to their everyday life versus thinking about using the technology itself.
Our investments in mobile AR – from computer vision algorithms to machine learning to understand the world to our AR engine to augment the world – these form the basis of Snap OS, which is our operating system for spectacles.
If you look at most AR and VR experiences today, they tend to be sort of solitary, often separating you out from the world. Optical see-through glasses really change that. They allow you to look directly at the environment. You can also see the digital content in the right context. This is one of the most technically complex ways to do AR but I think the payoff is huge and worth it. You can stay engaged with the people around you while the technology enhances the moment rather than interrupting it.
For more color and depth, see the full session below...
Want more XR insights and multimedia? ARtillery Intelligence offers an indexed and searchable library of XR intelligence known as ARtillery Pro. See more here.
