A former Snap employee thinks its augmented reality glasses are “bad.”
Sterling Crispin, an engineer who worked on previous versions of the glasses, criticized the product in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, this week.
“I’ve been working on these glasses for about a year at Snap, and I have a million negative things to say about the experience and the device,” Crispin wrote of Snap’s AR Spectacles, “but I think the product speaks for itself and it’s clearly bad.”
Snap did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finance’s request for comment.
“I don’t want to go into detail because I might inadvertently break a non-disclosure agreement and maybe hurt the feelings of some of the people who worked on it, but it really is a disaster,” Crispin continued.
Crispin was laid off from Snap in 2022, according to Posted on LinkedIn Share at that time.
Snap’s latest augmented reality glasses represent an attempt to expand into a struggling market. Meta (META) has lost nearly $50 billion in more than four years of its AR Labs division developing AR and VR products. Apple (AAPL)’s attempt to take over the market with its expensive Vision Pro headset has disappointed consumers and investors alike. And there have been failures from Google Glass (GOOG) and Microsoft HoloLens (MSFT), among others.
But that hasn’t stopped Meta, Apple, and now Snap from trying. Meta and Ray Ban parent EssilorLuxottica (ESLOY) recently expanded their partnership as they continue to work on AI-powered Ray Ban smart glasses. Apple opened sales of the Vision Pro overseas this summer, and the product was heavily highlighted during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Google, Qualcomm (QCOM), and Samsung (005930.KS) are also reportedly working on smart glasses.
Snap isn’t exactly new to this space. The company first launched its Spectacles in 2016 and added augmented reality features to the glasses in 2021, though those features were only available to iPhone users. About 200 creatorsSpectacles 5th generation glasses debuted this week — this time as an augmented reality product for a broader audience. The product will be available as part of the company’s developer kit for $99 a month.
“Glasses are the result of a decade of research and development to deliver devices that break the boundaries of screens and bring people together in the real world,” the company said in its announcement Wednesday.
The glasses received mostly positive feedback. MIT Technology Review Spectacles “may finally be able to deliver on the promise that devices like Magic Leap, HoloLens, or even Google Glass have been making for years,” he said. CNET Review “Snap is starting to get its foot in the door a little bit ahead of the competition,” he said. The Edge Snap says it’s getting closer to creating “engaging augmented reality.”
The positive reviews are a good sign for the social media platform as it looks to emerge from two years of financial struggles. Snap’s stock has fallen nearly 37% over the past three months and its current $10 share price is well below its highs in the $70 range in 2021. The company has yet to turn a profit since its launch more than a decade ago. Snap shares were down 0.55% in trading on Friday.
Snap’s CEO insisted the company is working to change things. In fact, The company’s losses decreased by 34%. In the second quarter ended Aug. 1 compared to 2023. Its revenue grew 16% year over year to $1.2 billion but fell short of Wall Street expectations. New feature, “Simple Snapchat”, It was also launched this week as part of its efforts to attract more users and improve profitability.
Laura Bratton is a reporter at Yahoo Finance.
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