As Snapchat’s Spectacles Fail, New Piece Of Wearable Technology Offers Multiplatform Compatibility

So far, the market for technologically-enhanced glasses has proven thin. The most notable failures have been Google’s ugly Glass wearable and Snapchat’s Spectacles, the latter of which currently sits unsold in Chinese warehouses.

Is there a market for sunglasses that can shoot photos and video and upload resulting content to social media? Acton believes so. The company primarily known for its electric skateboards has announced ACE Eyewear, a line of wearables that, according to The Verge, can record 90 minutes of video on one charge and can connect to Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.

The ACE Eyewear line features a wider, blockier look than Snapchat’s Spectacles, but they are undoubtedly sunglasses, so Acton gets a point for that. The product’s main selling point is its flexibility, both in terms of the platforms it is compatible with and the size of the videos it can shoot. ACE Eyewear is also reasonably priced; pre-ordering a pair will only cost you $99, though that is a significant reduction from the $199 list price. Spectacles, by comparison, cost $130.

The main drawback of ACE Eyewear, aside from the fact that wearables may be a passing fad with no real market, is the bizarre ad Acton has put together to advertise its new product. Seriously, this thing is cheesy and low-grade:

Poor marketing aside, ACE Eyewear seems like an intriguing option for people who still believe wearables can catch on. More details about the product will be revealed at the 2018 edition of CES, which will begin in Las Vegas on January 7.