Snap’s forthcoming Specs augmented-reality glasses offer shared digital experiences, including multiplayer virtual dominoes over a real table. The glasses represent more than six years of development and Snap’s ambition to create a new computing platform, but hands-on testing suggests the $2,195 product may not yet be ready for everyday consumers.

The standalone glasses contain their own computing hardware, waveguide displays and hand-tracking controls, without needing a phone or external battery. They are sturdy but conspicuous and potentially uncomfortable over long periods, while gestures such as pinching and navigating menus proved unreliable; battery life is expected to last around four hours.