Is Snapchat about to launch a wearable?
Here’s a piece of news you might not have been expecting to read: Snapchat, the iOS app and platform that made its name in the self-destructing photo-sharing game, could be planning on launching a piece of wearable technology.
... say what?!
In a report from Madeline Buxton (at Refinery29), the case for the current development of a Snapchat version of Google Glass is eloquently put forward. Through analysing LinkedIn accounts associated with the company, Buxton argues that Snapchat is in the process of creating a product for the wearables market.
And don’t go thinking Snapchat’s efforts are all on the software front, either. Because the hires all relate to “actual hardware designs,” rather than content aimed at smart eyewear or virtual reality (as you might otherwise have expected). That suggests Snapchat is building an actual hardware product, that it’s actually going to, well, sell.
Given the company’s come-from-behind capabilities — and cool factor — Snapchat could be just the one to make smart glasses actually happen. After all, if it can transform how the world consumes fashion, news, and celebrity culture, the creation of a pair of glasses should be easy, right?
- Madeline BuxtonYet as Buxton adds, one does not simply create a piece of smart eyewear. As Google’s Glass efforts showed, the world arguably just isn’t ready for that kind of technology, and Snapchat could indeed have “an uphill battle” if it’s hoping to develop a wearable product of this nature. Me, I’m not sure I’d consider that kind of a wearable, even if Google Glass did look cool in some ways. Because even in 2016, while strapping a computer to your wrist isn’t such a big deal, strapping one across your eyes does seem a step too far.
What do you think?