Sources: Snap is working on new Spectacles for Q3 focusing on performance; 3rd gen planned for 2019 with 2 cameras for 3D-like depth effects in videos for $300
Snap Inc. plans to launch a second version of its Spectacles glasses this year followed by a more ambitious third version equipped …
Context & Ripple Effects
This Cheddar report sketches a two-step Spectacles roadmap: a performance-focused second generation shipping in Q3 2018, followed by a more ambitious 2019 model with two cameras capturing 3D-like depth effects in video for around $300. The related coverage validates the arc — an April FCC filing surfaced what looked like the second-generation hardware with 802.11ac WiFi, and by August 2019 Snap had announced the two-camera Spectacles 3, though at $380 rather than the originally reported $300.
The significance is that Snap kept investing in glasses after the first version's rocky start, treating depth capture as the differentiator — a bet that culminated in the AR-developer-focused Spectacles reported in 2021.
First-order effects
- Buyers get a Q3 2018 Spectacles refresh aimed squarely at performance rather than new form factors, while creators are being primed for a 2019 two-camera model whose depth effects depend on stereo capture.
Second-order effects
- The gap between the reported ~$300 target and the eventual $380 Spectacles 3 launch price shows the dual-camera depth hardware carried real cost pressure, forcing Snap to reposition the product upmarket rather than as an impulse accessory.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, consumer camera glasses serve as Snap's stepping stone toward an AR developer platform — the same lens-and-cameras stack repurposed from recording video to projecting augmented-reality imagery, per the relationships noted in this coverage.
The trend: Snap is iterating Spectacles from a novelty camera accessory into a depth-sensing hardware platform intended to anchor its longer-term augmented-reality ambitions.