Evan Spiegel reframes Snap Specs as a computer

Snap Specs – Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is urging people to stop thinking of Specs as “AI glasses” for recording. In an interview after the announcement, he positioned the AR device as “a new type of computer” designed to overlay information on the real world—while acknowledgin

Evan Spiegel wore the new Snap Specs through the conversation, and the message was immediate: don’t call them AI glasses.

Spiegel said Specs should be understood as “a new type of computer. a see-through computer.” In his description. the point isn’t just adding features to the face—it’s overlaying computing on the world around you and making it feel more natural. “Specs is able to overlay computing on the world around you and bring computing into the world. which is so important if you want to make computing feel more human. ” he told Engadget shortly after Snap unveiled Specs at AWE.

That framing has real stakes. because for Specs to land. Snap has to persuade people that they’re buying a computer for their face—not simply another gadget that records. It’s a harder sell than it was for the early experiments. Back when Snap began experimenting with camera-enabled glasses in 2016, the landscape was far quieter. Now there’s more competition, and there’s also growing suspicion around smartglasses, fueled by widely publicized misuse.

And then there’s the shadow cast by Meta. The company was recently caught with an unreleased facial recognition feature on its Ray-Ban glasses, a feature it removed after outside researchers discovered it. Spiegel said Snap is not interested in that direction.

“There are certain use cases. like facial recognition. that we don’t allow in Lenses. and one of the benefits of having our own developer ecosystem and our own developer tools is that we’re able to moderate the Lenses that are submitted and available on Snap to make sure that they comply with our guidelines. ” Spiegel said.

He also pushed back on how AI glasses are commonly marketed and used. “I think AI glasses are typically being used to record content. that’s sort of the purpose of the glasses as they’re marketed. ” he said. “That’s not the purpose of Specs. In fact, I think that might be an almost tangential use case.”.

The company’s comfort pitch is about behavior: Spiegel said people may feel more at ease once they recognize that wearers are “using a computer, not surreptitiously recording videos.”

All of this is landing at a moment when governments are paying sharper attention to social platforms—especially where children are concerned. Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK would ban children under 16 from social media, including Snap. Spiegel said Snap expects Specs “will mostly be used by adults. ” but he also described parental controls aimed at families who share the glasses with teens.

“You can basically swipe a little toggle [in the Specs app] and limit the world of Lenses that they can use when they’re using Specs,” he explained. “So they can have all the fun and play, and still provide comfort to parents that they’re overseeing what their teens are doing.”

Price is another mountain. Specs will cost $2. 195 when it goes on sale later this year. making it more expensive than any other smartglasses currently on the market. Spiegel also compared the device to the Apple Vision Pro during his keynote. When asked if Snap wants Specs to get cheaper over time, Spiegel said it is a long term goal.

“That’s something we’re really focused on over time, because we want Specs to be as accessible as possible,” he said. “As far as computers go. it’s an incredibly powerful new computer. and we try to price in a way that makes it something that early adopters and developers and folks who are really passionate about this technology can afford.”.

Design is still part of the bargain. too—because even with the clearer pitch. people will judge whether it looks right and fits comfortably. The biggest question heading into the reveal was how much Snap would change the design. Spiegel wore the new Specs during the interview, and the device is noticeably more refined than the developer version from 2024. The arms remain quite thick and stick out past Spiegel’s head. but from the front the frames look narrower and rounder than the boxy. more angular look Snap used to show.

During the conversation, Spiegel’s eyes were visible through the lenses. The embedded waveguides produced rainbow-like reflections when he turned his head. With the dimming feature enabled, the lenses looked fully blacked out—like dark sunglasses.

Snap isn’t offering demos of the glasses yet, so impressions are limited to what Spiegel showed during the short chat. Still, the question now shifts to the next stage: how Specs will look and fit on different faces, and whether people will see the “computer” story as something more than a rebrand.

Snap Specs Evan Spiegel AR glasses smartglasses AI glasses facial recognition Lenses parental controls Keir Starmer UK social media ban waveguides developer ecosystem AWE