Just when you thought Social Media was running out of new ways and ideas to get people to post or share their every sight, sound and thought, sunglasses have now come into the fold.
Snapchat has Spectacles which were introduced a few years ago and are now on version 4 and you can only aquire the newest pair by being an influencer and applying for a chance to own them. Click here to check them out for yourself.
Facebook has now entered the same market after recently partnering with Rae-Ban’s to provide the oppertunity to own your own pair of designer sunglasses called Rae-Ban Stories. For the low cost of $369 dollars, plus tax and shipping, you can own a pair of smart glasses that play audio and record video with built in speakers and cameras. Just another piece of tech that I dont think was really asked for or needed.
Snapchat took a limited release approach with their smart glasses as they were only purchased from vending machines placed at select locations. It is even harder to get them now, as I said earlier one must apply to have a chance at recieiving the most recent version and subsequent versions are really hard to find and super expensive, version 3 costing a whopping $500 dollars.
Facebook took a different approach by partnering with an established brand and just straight up making them availabe for sale through Rae-Ban Directly. Snapchat didn’t make their smart glasses available online until recently.
If I had to choose a pair to buy and wear I would easily pick Facebook and Rae-Ban’s collaboration as they have much more style and choices when it comes to colour and actual kind of shades you want to wear. Snapchat only has a choice in colour and I feel has less usefulness. Either way though my true opinion is that we do not need “smart glasses” and I am anxious to see if these products survive the test of time. After all, this could turn out to be a better product than what Google tried to create with their glasses years ago.
below are videos of both Facebook and Snapchat smart glasses.
-Calvin
