The new smart glasses are expected to enter a period of intensive release.
According to the latest report from technology media The Verge, Snap will hold its annual Partner Summit in Los Angeles on September 17th, during which it will release its fifth generation Spectacles AR glasses. According to multiple sources, Meta is likely to showcase its first AR glasses (codenamed Orion) at the Connect conference on September 25th, with only a week between the two.
It is reported that Snap's new product may be similar in appearance or technical features to the previous generation, but with improved field of view (FoV) and battery life. The highlight of Orion may lie in its field of view, which may have a wider field of view and more advanced technology.
It is worth noting that both of these upcoming devices are not ready for production and will be provided to developers for experimentation first.
Product strategy is vastly different
Snap and Meta, two long-standing competitors in the social media field, have both been deeply involved in smart glasses for many years.
Currently, with the successful commercialization of to C products, Meta is clearly superior. The company has released multiple smart glasses, and the popular product is the smart glasses co branded with the well-known eyewear brand Ray Ban. According to a Reuters report in July, in the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, the shipment volume of Ray Ban Meta exceeded the full lifecycle shipment volume of the first generation product Ray Ban Stories, reaching 1 million pairs, and this trend is expected to continue in 2024. It is expected that the annual shipment volume may exceed 1.5 million pairs, and the product is currently in a state of continuous shortage.
However, the Ray Ban Meta smart glasses currently do not support AR functionality, nor do they have features such as glasses screens, 3D shooting and recording. Orion will be Meta's first true AR glasses.
According to previous intelligence, the product has been in development for about 9 years and can project colorful and realistic holograms into the user's view, thereby achieving an experience that is indistinguishable from reality (holographic interaction). In addition, the device seems to use a special and expensive silicon carbide material, which is mainly used in space telescopes, as well as in the radar and sensors of the US military. The original plan was to produce 50000 units of this product, but due to cost and technical reasons, only 1000 units were temporarily produced.
Snap has been building its Spectacles smart glasses series for many years, but it wasn't until the fourth generation product in 2021 that it truly had AR functionality. This product is only for developers and uses Snapdragon XR1 chip, optical waveguide display lens, and DFoV of 26.3& deg;， Equipped with two RGB cameras that can sense spatial position and depth, weighing 134g, with a single battery life of 30 minutes (which can be further used with a charging case), four microphones, speakers, and a touch interaction board built into the mirror legs.
Unlike Meta's focus on achieving C-end sales of its products, Snap does not position Spectacles as a consumer grade product. It is reported that the production quantity of Spectacles 5 is likely to be less than 10000 units and will be distributed to selected developers and partners, with the aim of further promoting the development and improvement of the Snap AR ecosystem through collaboration with developers and professional users.
Based on the Snapchat application ecosystem, Spectacles can achieve video shooting, overlay Snapchat Lens 3D effects to real-life scenes, and browse directly on glasses. Finally, a video with AR effects can be generated and uploaded to Snapchat for sharing.
The best hardware carrier for AI landing of smart glasses?
Currently, the release of new smart glasses products is ongoing. Meizu is expected to launch its second generation AR glasses products in September and October this year; Meta will launch smart glasses equipped with HUD next year, with the product code name Hypernova. Meta is still developing a simplified version of Artemis, a truly market-oriented Orion, which may adopt an array waveguide+LCoS solution and is expected to be launched in 2027.
At the same time, AI models also bring greater imagination to AR ecosystem applications. Google is committed to collaborating with EssilorLuxottica to discuss incorporating its Gemini AI assistant into future smart glasses.
Shouchuang Securities listed four major advantages of smart glasses: compared with the "helmet style" AR/VR glasses that require a larger head, smart glasses have a smaller volume and are convenient to carry; It has functions such as nearsighted glasses, sunglasses, decorative glasses, etc., and potential users include non nearsighted users other than nearsighted users; Solved the pain points of users, it has the function of making and receiving phone calls, saving users the need to take out their phones or earphones from their pockets; The cost is relatively low, with the Ray Ban Meta starting at $299 and the Apple Vision Pro starting at $3499.
Minmetals Securities stated that in the coming years, major manufacturers are expected to launch more practical consumer grade AR products, and there may be a certain demand for optical waveguides, prisms, and lenses in AR imaging/sensing systems.
Shanxi Securities stated that the low cost, lightweight, and versatile nature of AR glasses make them the best hardware carrier for AI implementation. With the empowerment of AI and the continuous launch of new products by technology giants, there will be a lot of room for AI+AR smart glasses in the future, and it is expected to achieve million level shipments in the short term.
Huajin Securities, on the other hand, is more optimistic about smart audio glasses. The institution stated that compared to AR glasses with display modules, AI audio glasses have made compromises in visual display and instead focus on audio experience and intelligence. In the short term, when the user profile of AR glasses is relatively blurry, smart audio glasses will replace headphone functions as the entry point, use glasses (for correcting vision/decoration) as the carrier, and combine AI to improve the experience and selling points, which is expected to open up a new audio track. It is recommended to pay attention to manufacturers who have entered the supply chain of various products or have relevant technical reserves.