Snapchat parent absorbs mapping and spatial-computing tech, targeting a roughly $2,500 consumer AR launch this fall
Snap has acquired spatial augmented reality startup Illumix to sharpen the real-world sensing that will define its forthcoming Specs glasses. The Snapchat parent said it will fold Illumix’s mapping technology and platform into Specs and retain most of the startup’s staff. Terms were not disclosed. The move slots in the last piece Snap needs before pushing into the consumer market in earnest.
Jung Han
The deal lands as computing’s center of gravity shifts from the smartphone toward eyewear. Meta has grown the category with Ray-Ban Meta; Google and Samsung are chasing through the Android XR camp; and Apple is still weighing its entry.
EssilorLuxottica sold more than seven million Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses last year, more than tripling its prior annual total. Yet almost everything shipped so far has been a camera-and-voice ‘smart glass’ — no company has put true binocular AR glasses, which overlay digital objects onto physical space, in consumers’ hands at scale. That gap is why Snap has spent more than 11 years and over $3 billion on the effort, and why it bought Illumix.
What Snap Bought: Mapping at Scale
Snap’s interest centered on Illumix’s work scaling its mapping technology and building it out for real-world experiences, and the company plans to adopt that technology and platform directly in Specs. Founded in 2017 by CEO Kirin Sinha, Illumix has focused on AR products that bring the digital and physical worlds closer. It co-developed an AR version of the hit game “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” released in 2019, and has worked on bringing AI into physical space, including systems that respond to changing environments.