SPECS 1st Impressions From Spatial Creators, Artists & Influencers About Snap’s New AR Smartglasses

Spatial creators are pioneers. We are at the forefront of this new form, of place-based storytelling. I'm just so excited to be around dozens of the brightest, kindest, most humble creators on the planet. So that's what we are. We're pioneers.

Hello, and welcome to The Tech Glow Up. I'm Nathan C, and thank you for joining me for this very special episode live from Beverly Hills, California, at the Specs launch. That's right, Awesome Future was invited to the Specs launch in Beverly Hills to get a first look at Specs, the newest wearable smart glasses from Snap. We were there for the live presentation from Evan Spiegel, and then walked around the party with our recording gear, talking to the influencers, the developers, other members of the press, and those excited to learn all about these new wearable AI-powered smart glasses. We

got

first experience notes from some of the world's best developers and some of the creative directors who are helping businesses understand how to use tools like smart glasses in real, meaningful, heads-up, hands-free, connected ways. We talked with 16 different individuals in just a couple short days, and I can't wait to share this mashup style episode of The Tech Glow Up with you. I asked everybody about the same five questions, and, we grouped all of their answers together. So you'll hear many responses upon one question in a rapid fire, at the party kind of mode. This is one of a few episodes that I'll be sharing, special episodes that I'll be sharing from The Tech Glow Up as we're, moving between seasons and getting ready for some of our Q4 events. Hope to see you at HLTH in November and, maybe some other things upcoming in the spatial computing space in December. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for that. This is such a fun to reconnect with the community of spatial creators, developers, designers, agency heads, and media who gathered around this really fantastic event. Big shout out to the team at Specs, for pushing our expectations about what can be in smart glasses and how all-day heads-up smart glasses feel and look. very excited to be welcoming you to a new episode of The Tech Glow Up. As always, like, subscribe, share, give us a rating. All those things help us out in our mission to highlight the innovators, the stories of the human side of success, and great examples from people who have been there, seen and done it all.

it good. Well, darling, we can start the interview. Awesome. Who are you and what do you do? Hello everyone my name is Dillian the Celebrity, and I am a content creator, host, and fashionista.

I am Dulce Baerga, and I am a technical engineer, artist, coder/programmer.

Yes, my name is Rex Gatling. I'm an XR developer, been building apps for AR glasses- particularly the Specs, for the last two years from New York City.

My name is David Robustelli and I'm a creative director at Beyond Studio and we make augmented reality experiences.

I'm Kanzul Fatima Arif. I am head of innovation at a company called Headraft in Germany, and I'm also a lens builder for Specs.

My name's Steven Wolpe, and I'm a AR developer, and I build, for Snap Specs.

Hi, I'm Johannes. I'm a spectacles Developer, or SPECS developer, nowadays. I do, like, also computer game prototyping, all kinds of stuff with robotics too.

I'm Meghna Soni and I'm a XR product designer and a developer. I design and develop for mobile devices, web, and also AR glasses and AI glasses.

I'm Keiichi Matsuda. I'm a designer and filmmaker, and I'm also develo- developing experiences for Specs.

I'm Sandeep Rathod. I run a company called VyuXR Immersive Studios. We make experiences for SPECS.

Hi, I'm Lauren, and I'm a video creator with Android Authority.

Hey, I'm Dr. Danny Pimentel. I'm an associate professor of immersive media psychology at the University of Oregon.

hi, my name is Pavlo. I am a AR experience designer, so I'm working with the SPECS and spectacle developer.

Hi, my name is Ines. I'm an AR designer, and I work with those spectacles. And yeah, this is my colleague, Max. I'm Max. I'm a AR, developer, and I've been working with Lens Studio since 2017. Very excited to now see this whole platform grow so much and see the new device come out.

Amazing. What, as a developer, do you wanna build for these new hardware, for these new wearables?

I wanna build commerce applications that people use every day, to make AR glasses practical. Because it's a misconception that AR glasses is just games and everything. It's really things you can utilize in your day-to-day.

I'm very interested in things that actually enhance the physical world. You know, not just something gimmicky, but something that really adds value. Um, so we're really focusing on, for example, training experience where you can, uh, enhance your skills, train your skills, for example, the soccer experience. Right over here? Right over there. Amazing. Um, so we really try to think further and, and how you can take it from your phone to your glasses. So it's a completely different way of thinking. Yeah. Because you never have, have it in your eyes. You always have it on a little screen. I really love when we come up with something that really enhances it. Amazing.

So what do you wanna build for these new glasses? Uh,

more things with robots. Because I think it's very... I think it is a, like, augmented reality is great, as an interface for robotics and physical AI. And I'm g- definitely gonna put those glasses to the test once more.

So we already developed a lens called Cooking, which is basically super cool because it is, uh, using computer vision at its best. It's looking at all the ingredients. It can scan your pantry, and it is assisted with AI. But it's meant to really become invisible. So you can set timers. You can figure out where things are. You can place them in your environment. So if you wanna put up your steps all over the kitchen, you can do that. And it's already on the Specs, so it will ship with them.

that's a great question. I mean, this is something that exists in my everyday life, right? Something that I can put on and I can use it anywhere. So I guess I'm really excited about the shared experiences. At an event like this, it would be wonderful if we could all be wearing those Specs and seeing some amazing things in the world around us. So yeah, I look... I'm really looking forward to seeing what we'll make from it and how it could sort of transform events. I think that's really exciting.

I'm super excited to see educational experiences come up to do- Yo uh, like experiences where you can learn about maybe abstract things like mathematics or things that you can make intuitive in 3D space- Amazing. Ines, what do you wanna see? Yeah, I'm excited that the new specs are pretty lightweight now. you can use it in everyday life. So I wanna build more utility

stuff that just help in

everyday situations, navigations,

watching movies while I'm on tour,

like Jack Harlow

Right now I'm working on a journaling app, but I've also got an app that makes a relief map, uh, for hiking trails.

Ooh.

And so that is probably my most, uh, exciting project.

Yeah. So we built a application called SmashAR. It's a ping pong game, and that we've, that is on the new SPECS as well. It was demoed yesterday, during the launch event.

Yeah. Congrats on that. Amazing.

I have already been developing for SPECS, actually. I've been going to the London office. So I am porting Style Me, which is my AI styling and fashion assistant like I've spoken about before. I'm also working on a new game. So it's a multiplayer game where you can play skateboarding with another person and you will have, personalized avatars you can choose from. I'm also working on a drone experience, so you can connect your SPECS to your drone and then control it. Love it so these are two projects that I'm currently working on.

What do I wanna build for these SPECS? So many things, As director of the Oregon Reality Lab, it's all about storytelling, mostly environmental storytelling. So I'm thinking, how do we tell stories about the natural world, about marine environments through wearable AR on SPECS to connect people to the natural world? That's what I'm thinking.

I'm experimenting a lot of, combining different technologies, AR with robotics, and I'm super excited to try to connect spectacles with the little robots or MicroDOC, which is supposed to be released this year. So I'm super excited about this combination.

I've already started two applications that I'm really excited about that are my own personal applications. One is a music remixing type application, and the other one is a mirroring dance type application. Amazing. So yeah, I really want one to get my hands on the Specs or even the older 2024 version just so I can get the mechanics down properly for both the remix and the dancing. But I did create another Spec lens that is very simple. It's just pressing buttons. And it's for an interactive play that we're doing in Hollywood. So it's like a trailer for an interactive play, like a Specs lens to be like a trailer for this interactive play.

Oh my God. That's amazing. What caught your attention the most today?

What caught my attention the most was Snap working with Verizon, which is a huge deal. Because now, a huge mobile carrier like Verizon jumping on to a pair of AR glasses is really gonna boost the sector where now the mainstream is gonna start saying, "This is a real thing." It's gonna validate- Yeah AR glasses. That

connectivity is a big deal.

Yes, sir.

Okay. From Evan's talk, the most exciting thing for me honestly was seeing the persistence of the headset. Having that really cool feedback with the audience and with what he was doing, that was really neat. I really like the fidelity of the way it looks. I... To me, it's the best looking so far out of all the headsets that I've put on. Love it. I've, put on all... a lot of headsets already.

Well, first of all, you know, I'm here for the fashion, and I was like, "Oh, they look good on, and they look good on me." So I'm like, "I need a pair as soon as possible." And I'm always huge on the marketing, and let me just tell you, the people that they have that's wearing them, that's rocking them, that's all over the ads, they look good while doing it, too, so it's a win-win.

I'm very excited about the fact that they're actually gonna release it. shows a different way of how this can, you know, be used. Mm-hmm. Um, using your hands, using your voice, using gestures to basically express yourself and create a very impactful, uh, virtual experience.

what I'm most excited to see is just the form factor getting small enough to now pass as, essentially, glasses, and I think this is basically a first, and we haven't seen that before, so I'm really excited about that. Like, the future is now, basically.

I think what was really, really important for me today was that Evan's speech, or the whole talk, was super human. Mm-hmm. And I think that tells a lot about the technology and the people building them, especially in a time when smart glasses are all about, like, "Oh my god, this is gonna make people less human. This is taking away from our agency as people." His entire talk was quite the opposite, and that was immensely important to me. Also, Imogen Heap, holy shit. Oh, She's insane. But honestly, that is what we want. Like, we want technology to make our immediate worlds better- Yep more immersive, and also connect each other in a better space. So yeah, that was my favorite part. Heck yeah.

Specs Intelligence was a whole new thing. I didn't know anything about that, but I think it's really exciting that they can, uh, have a kind of connected experience. I think with these kind of devices, sometimes they're things that you could just buy and then would just leave on a shelf. But I feel like if it's connected to to all of the stuff that I do every day, then I'm much more likely to be able to use that and for it to become a part of, yeah, my, my everyday environment.

I was not expecting just the, Shopify section where you were able to go and take things from Shopify and see it in the real space. I I'm intrigued to see in the future how that's gonna become, I'm assuming, more and more realistic.

Oh, definitely the musical performance in the Imogen Heap. Imogen Heap, that was amazing. Yeah, the music was... That whole lens was so well-built, and then her performance on top was fantastic. Yeah, truly magical. Loved it.

Oh, I think what was most exciting was putting the Specs on and basically not feeling them on my face. and then just seeing how tight the hand tracking was.

I really like the Harry Potter demo. That was amazing. Also during the demo I tried the navigation app. That was also amazing. Yeah.

I like everything, honestly. But I like the fact that they're building a new portal. I think to be able to create different builds, share it with people, get feedback, get very quick support from the SPECS team is something that's very important. I think that is something very helpful. And also, the office hours while SPECS are being launched, before before they're launched. It'll be so nice to have more of it so that we can test and then make our apps available to public before they are released.

I would say one of the things that really piqued my interest as an educator was discounted pricing for students. As we think about what universities have to evolve into and how, do we change and adapt to the environment, being able to allow students in all disciplines, from architecture and design, to journalism and advertising, this device, wearable AR, has a place in everything you do. So I'm just excited about the future and how we can integrate this into all sorts of curriculum.

I'm super happy that the platform moves to enterprise solution. This is, opening for developers maybe the potential ways of monetize. Maybe, make something for bigger brands and, So i- it's interesting direction, and, I'm super happy that it's not only, creative, but also, business opportunities are there.

Amazing. So important. was there anything you wanted to hear more of that you didn't hear enough of?

I wanna have device. I can't wait already. it's really something that, you wanna put your hands on and start, playing with it.

So was there anything you wanted to hear more of that you didn't hear enough about?

Not really. I think they I think my expectations of what I, wh- when I came here what I wanted to hear is just what I wanted to hear. It highlighted developers, highlighted practical use cases and as well, it really just raised the enthusiasm of developers to where now we're so hungry to create now.

So I would love for more initiatives to be, Really pushed around the kind of mechanics that Imogen Heap was introducing on stage. So like body movement and sound and voice intonation, sentiment, those kinds of things. Using that for mechanics is amazing, and I just would love to see way more of that, and including actual senses, touch, and and smell- Yeah potentially. So opening the SPECS up to be more integrated with other devices, that could definitely help bring an experience, an immersion deeper- I love it to an experience.

Well, I'm very curious what the next step is. Uh, we've been working with the specs for quite a while. but I'm also very curious what's, what's the next thing, you know? I mean, it's very early, of course, but I like to think further than where we are right now. Yeah. but I think that's a very difficult thing. Uh, but I'm very happy that this thing is released.

I really wanna hear more of, uh, sort of like enterprise use cases as well, because I think there are a lot of companies who see this sort of tech, and that it could be applied to their business. And there is more than enough, uh, sort of hunger in the industry to use this

kind of stuff.

Was there anything you wanted to hear more of that you didn't get enough of?

Not really because I have been asking a lot of questions, like I said, in the office hours. There are some some issues that I've been facing, especially with working with CLAD and the multiplayer experience and how you can tackle that when you don't have access to the hardware. I think office hour really solves that. But I really hope that we get access to the device soon.

What I really wanna see is, like, I feel like we grazed over the enterprise a little bit. But for me personally, that is the biggest, probably the biggest, kind of scope we have for augmented reality in, like, a quick adoption. I would love to have heard more in, like, what they'd meant with their other partnerships that they have. That was slightly missing, so I'm hoping to be more informed about that later. Amazing. Uh, everybody needs the enterprise, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, what... How do we make that happen?

I would love to see more experiences, you know, more games, more entertainment. I think the stuff that they showed was really great, but obviously it's just the beginning, so I can't wait to see more creators get their hands on it and see what they're gonna build.

I really enjoyed how they went over CLAD again, and I learned more about CLAD, even though I'm someone that uses CLAD on a daily basis. I was... during the presentation, I was using LEAF, just testing it 'cause I hadn't tested it out. And so being able to have the, the hand-based interactions that I can't test on device, 'cause we don't have the device yet, being able to do that on-site live was, really helpful to me, and I'm just excited to get to work.

It'd be really like to hear more about how more kinds of people would use SPECS. There's al- there's just always more to go into depth. There are different use cases, different kinds of people, different uses. Maybe people who can't use SPECS, things like that.

Amazing. Accessibility.

Accessibility.

probably how people could use it for productivity for their work. Maybe some more demos related to that would have been a little better.

I would've liked to have more time with them on, but I kind of felt like I was hogging them a little bit with everybody in line, right? I want, I want everybody to get a chance. Um- Right so that was... That's the only, uh, drawback, not enough time playing with them. Amazing.

Uh, speaking of drawbacks, what would you say is holding back the industry the most?

I think the, the ambiguity of what are these gonna be good for, or what value are they gonna bring to somebody's life, and what is, yeah. For $2,100, there needs to be a distinct value to each person. And like the... I think a couple people noted today that that's gonna be different for each person, right? Mm-hmm. And, and we're all trying to figure out what that is and throwing spaghetti at the wall still.

I think it, more than the headset or the hardware or even the price, I think it is more people wanting to go out of their comfort zones, adopt a new technology. Letting go of their phones, their laptops, and accept that you have a computing device on your head and you're walking around with it, and you can trust the privacy and that it promises. I think that is the main thing that would hold AR glasses back. Otherwise, if people do start using it as much as we want them to, then I think we have amazing developers in the ecosystem. We have a great hardware, and of course, with time it's gonna only improve more. So if people start taking that leap of faith and change that behavior, I think we can get there.

it's getting it out there to the everyday people. Because the people who need to see it are people that are not in our sector. It needs to be it needs to be everyday people that, that have a problem That, they open a app for on their g- on their phone that AR glasses needs to solve. We need we need, to go out there and show them the benefits of it. Cost, we don't need to think too much about cost. We need to think about value.

it's a big price on it, right? And so I- think people are scared to invest in something like this However, I'm here to let you know SPECS is where it's at, and if you wanna invest in the future of technology, but not only technology, the future of yourself, go ahead and get you a pair.

Oh my gosh. A rave review.

I think it's the perception of what it is. People don't know what AR is, you know, and specifically not a glass. And also the form factor, maybe. Um, for me, this is the first one that actually... I mean, I've been seeing people here wearing it and I don't even notice it anymore as, as AR glass, you know? Mm-hmm. They look pretty integrated. Yeah. So I think that's a huge step for adaptation.

so far what's been holding us back is that the form factor was just too big, and people didn't think they could wear it all the time, and, like, ev- every day, and that is now shifting, which is a g- great thing.

Hmm. I think it's a bit of everything. And it's a bit of the timing, unfortunately. I feel like if I go back to when I started looking into AR in 2020, the world, the way everything was happening, how we were about technology was very different. Right now, the discourse is different. We are s- more skeptical. We have a lot more questions, as we should. But, so I feel like all the things which would probably not be that big of a problem if they were just alone without this discourse, we would've gotten through them. Mm-hmm. But right now, for example, the SPECS are gonna have a really hard time in the EU, and finding the right conversations and how do we get out of that. Yeah. So it's a mix of a lot of things. I can't really point to one thing.

I think all those things are important, but the main thing that you gotta think is that, you know, what are you actually gonna see when you put on these glasses, right? We can see what they look like from the outside, but I wanna step into a new world when I put these on, right? So I think the main thing that's holding it back is that content, right? Like, what are we gonna see? How are we gonna use it?

I think it's, I think it's a mixture of things, one of them being the use case for it. I think we already have a lot of expensive tech, and so it might be hard for certain people to justify spending a lot of money on a pair of AR glasses when we already have laptops, computers, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Uh, the field of view could be a bit bigger. That's all I can think of now Yeah, I think the spy glasses is also, like, a big reason why people are skeptical and, and that's very, like, very fair. Um, and that's what I think the SPECS are trying to do, is to design them around privacy, and also make sure that people know that this is not about the camera, it's about the visuals that you see. The glass... The SPECS are really about the content. And I think what's holding the, the, uh, the content back the most is just the amount of developers working on it. We need more developers to build useful things.

it's a mix of a few things. Again, the cost is a little heavy. Plus currently we tend to focus more on developers instead of end user, but I think that changed yesterday. We, there were applications wherein they showed how you could make call to your friends. You could... There's a navigation app. So I think those things are making SPECS appealing for end users as well- who are not developers. Amazing. So I think... Yeah. Going forward, we will have more people come to this industry.

There are a lot of uphill battles when you're trying to sell a device like this, right? You mentioned privacy security risks. Cost is always going to be a problem, right? Things can never be affordable or cheap enough. But I think it's also just a matter of education. It's what I loved about yesterday being able to see all the different use cases, giving visual language to people and letting them understand intuitively, "Oh, this is how this fits into my life," from education to play. So I think educating the public to let them know how this device is different than everything else that's like it will pretty much help people understand how this adds value to their life. And I think if you can add value and make that value very clear, top of mind then things like price and things like security become less of a factor, and you're able to integrate that into your day-to-day. So I think that's what we need to do, is educate people around us, let people get those hands-on demos, and build that understanding of what this technology actually is.

I think we are coming closer and closer to adoption. Before it was just the form factor. Right now, the form factor is already very suitable. It's very easy to dress, and I think we are right in time. So it's, just we are in the right moment. So it will come eventually.

People conflating AR with AI. I think that's what's hurting it the most at the moment. Privacy was a big issue maybe 10, 15 years ago, but everybody's over the privacy problem right now to an extent. We got, other issues going on. But it's it's also the assumption that only tech bros are gonna be using these headsets, and I'm a woman in her mid-age telling you that it's not just tech bro dudes, it's everybody. We're all gonna be using these headsets. We all have a vision for them. We all know the power of these headsets. It's a matter of educating people to understand the utility of it and not, be afraid of that utility and understand that's a power, there's a power in that utility. And then if we have regulations, that's great. Yeah. Let's regulate things- Yeah so that we all feel safe in the world, so that's the big issue for me with AR and AI and conflating. Yeah. 'Cause you don't need AI really to do AR at all. You don't need it. Hot mic. Amazing. Yeah. Last question. Fill in the blank. Spatial creators are... Spatial creators are innovators. They're fourth dimensional thinkers bordering on fifth dimension because you're pulling things out of the thin air and anchoring it to real spaces and having them interact. So yeah- Yo it's it's magic almost. Yes. I love it.

It's kind of layer that helps people who are out of AR topic- To start communicate with the topic. We are media who helps another people to come into, so it's our kind of role here to help other people to come and start experience AR and start using AR to understand AR. So we're explaining to the world what it is, how to use it, and why do we need this in our life.

Spatial creators are pioneers. We are at the forefront of this new form of storytelling, of place-based storytelling. I'm just so excited to be around dozens of the brightest, kindest, most humble creators on the planet. So that's what we are. We're pioneers.

Spatial creators are...

Oh. Oh my God, futuristic.

Spatial creators are...?

Builders of the future.

All right, last question. Uh, fill in the blank. Spatial creators are-

The most amazing people.

Oh. Mic drop. Love it. Thank you

Spatial creators are- designers, um Who build the world of tomorrow and the world we Want to live in Amazing. Anything to add? No. Amazing.

Fill in the blank: spatial creators are...

Awesome.

Yeah, they are.

We love creatives in tech.

Thank you, Lauren.

Spatial creators are magicians for me. Always.

Spatial creators are... Playful. Amazing. Johannes, thank you so much. Thank you.

I think they are the, people that are, uh, the next generation that will show us how you interact with digital media in the future.

Okay, one last question. You're crushing it, friend Finish this sentence. Spatial creators are...

the innovators. And the future of, mobile and as well with computing.

Heck yeah. I couldn't agree more. Thank you so much.

The artists and designers building apps for SPECS are That's fabulous. Thank you so much. Fabulous. Thank you. That was amazing