Snapchat’s pair of AR-powered smart glasses launching has been powered by a startup purchase in Israel. The company has acquired an Israel-based startup for what was reported to be around $30 million to $40 million. This is to enhance its sales in a more personalized way.
Cimagine, the Israel-based startup is taking Augmented Reality(AR) in commerce to the next level. It specializes in building an AR platform that will allow consumers to visualize products they intend to buy instantly in their intended location. It boosts sales, help companies augment their sites, boost online conversions and personalizes the shopping experience. Users are able to view products in life-like 3D with Cmagine’s superior augmented reality platform for business.
How Snapchat will Use the Tech?
The company has not yet aired how it is going to use the newly acquired tech. It is presumed that it will use the tech to enhance campaigns of a pair of Google Glass-style smart glasses. This presumption comes from a past experience of Starbucks, who launched a summer drink. They aimed at giving the ability to Starbucks drinkers to cover a lens over a picture of icy Frappuccino beverage and send it to their friends.
Presumed Benefits of Snapchat from the Tech
The company will be in a position to launch campaigns to promote the Google Glass spectacles. This move might seem to create a way for the company to develop a center in Israel. Snapchat will also grab talented personnel who are co-founders of Cimagine. They are specialists in the field of computer vision and image processing.
Acquisitions Made by Snapchat
The company is known to have made smaller acquisitions of about half a dozen in the year 2016. Those detected by the media include; an acqui-hire deal where Snapchat paid a reported $110 million for a mobile search app Vurb from Adtech Company known as Flite; a computer vision startup, which allowed users to take selfies in three-dimensions. In this startup known as Seene, the terms are not revealed; Snap paid $100 millionfor Bitstrips Company, which makes bitmojis. Recently,it has also acquired an Israel startup, Cimagine, which is four-year-old for a reported $30 million to $40 million. Hiring new employees with a background in Augmented Reality is speculated to have fuelled the company’s move.
Presumed Future Acquisition
Snapchat has been reported to be moving forward with and IPO. This could value the company $20 billion to $25 billion.
Snapchat’s Achievements from 2014
The company purchased a startup, Vengeance Labs, which was busy in producing smart eyewear. The spectacles are in a position to record video of what the user see. They have a camera on the front, which was considered as a security threat, creepy, and invasion of public privacy. It records a video for 10 seconds at a degree of 115 from the wearer’s perception. The video then syncs with your smartphone. The videos can then be shared as Snapchat Memories.
Currently, it has an eyewear designer in the shape of Lauryn Morris on its team. Morris had previously created designer frames for Michael Kors and also mixed reality glasses startup Innovega. Mark Dixon later joined and worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens headset. An engineering director, Titan Pilpski, joined Snapchat and worked on Vulforis AR software at Qualcomm.
Future Predictions about the Google Smartglasses
Google Glass smart glasses are predicted to come back after being faced out for what was considered as a security threat and invasion of public privacy. It is predicted that the name of the device will be Google Glass Enterprise Edition as the name was mentioned in the second generation AR eyewear support pages.
The New Design of the Glasses
It will come in a new design with more appealing frames than the previous one. Some features such as having a touchpad, camera and display are retained. The new smartglasses can be folded as they are going to be built for work. It is expected to be more durable, improved battery life, rugged build along with a waterproof design. Diagrams filed by FCC shows the position of power button at the back of the device. A large prism display is also shown at the upfront.
Internal Hardware Changes Expected
The smart glasses will have a new Intel processor aimed at improving the overall performance as well as offering better heat management. Filings reveal that the users can know stream video applications with a 5 GHz Wi-Fi band support.
See Also: Snapchat Spectacles Vending Machine – Determine its Next Location
Conclusion
More is expected of the new Google Glass smart glasses. There are high expectations that with time, the glasses will have a number of different editions with different and improved designs and features. The acquisition of Cimagine Company will boost its sales. The tech’s augmented reality platform will enable people to visualize the product they need to buy through a click of a button. This will not only boost the sales but also boost online conversion rates. Most probably, it will be used to enhance campaigns during the launching of the new Google Glass smart glasses. They are expected to come in new design and enhanced features.
