Snap will hold a Los Angeles event on 16 September to give its first detailed public demonstration of Specs, its standalone augmented-reality glasses. The launch matters because Snap is preparing to sell the device directly to consumers, positioning it for AI assistance, work, entertainment and shared AR experiences.

Chief executive Evan Spiegel is expected to demonstrate the glasses, which cost $2,195 and are due to ship in the US, UK and France this autumn after pre-orders opened last month. Specs will come in 47mm and 52mm sizes, offer up to four hours of mixed-use battery life, and include a browser, AI tools from OpenAI and Google, and hundreds of AR Lens apps; two Qualcomm Snapdragon processors handle computer vision and AR applications.