Last week saw the announcement of Snapchat Spectacles – from the makers of Snap mobile app, which has rebranded itself with this launch.
An introduction (marketing) video of Snapchat Spectacles.
In short, it allows you to record 10-second videos and send them to your phone. Here’s a video explaining more about how it works.
There are differing points of view at the moment. Time magazine believes Snapchat Spectacles could become a huge hit. While Snap’s CEO calls the Spectacles as a toy, CNBC believes they could be more than just a toy. TheNextWeb disagrees and thinks Spectacles are a joke.
One thing that sets Snapchat Spectacles apart from the high profile Google Glass is the price; of course it also aims to do much less than what Google Glass did. At $130, it’s coming at a fraction of the $1500 price that was set for Glass, and that certainly makes it a ‘toy’. I personally find them useful to record short bits especially when traveling/holidaying. A sequence of 20 – 50 such 10-second clips would make a great memory album.
Snapchat Spectacles in eLearning!
It is a little early to say but it certainly has potential to be used in learning – and because it will be digital, no harm in calling it eLearning. It can be used for:
– recording experiences and sending them back to a system for evaluation/record keeping or even as learner portfolio.
– recording a situation to explain where you are stuck and then sharing them on company/public social platforms seeking help/advise.
– reflecting on your own experiences via the short clips.
There is some potential but not a huge one that is clearly evident as of now. But the great thing about such products, and invariably the price points, is that it can trigger a lot of innovation around the basic concept. We will certainly be exploring this more in weeks to come.
Do share your thoughts.
