Snapchat is building a team to develop a Google Glass rival

Snapchat, yes Snapchat, could be secretly working on a pair of smart glasses to give Google Glass a run for its money.

Evidence for a entry into the world of wearables comes courtesy of the company recently snapping up a host of new employees with close links to augmented reality.

Essential reading: The best VR and AR headsets

That includes Mark Dixon, who previously worked on Microsoft's HoloLens headset and Titan Pilpski, who joined Snapchat as an engineering director and used to work at Qualcomm, specifically on the company's Vurforia AR software.

Snapchat also has a job listing for a "3D Computer Vision Engineer" to work in its Snap Lab division and adds further fuel to the fire that it has its sights set on entering the wearable game.

This doesn't look like something a company, reportedly valued at around the $17 billion mark, has just thought about doing now if you look back at some of its other recent activity.

Back in 2014, Snapchat purchased Vengeance Labs, a startup that was busy building smart eyewear that's able to record video of what a wearer sees. It also currently has an eyewear designer on its team in the shape of Lauryn Morris who previously created designer frames for Michael Kors and mixed reality glasses startup Innovega.

Would we wear a pair of Snapchat smart glasses? If it can manage to make them look a darn sight more attractive than Google Glass, then maybe, just maybe, we might be interested.

Source: CNET