Snap’s Big Waveguide Bet and Apple’s Hands-Free Input

Snap grabbed everyone’s attention last week with its new AR Spectacles, but it turns out that CEO Evan Spiegel actually had another reveal up his sleeve. On Friday, Snap confirmed the acquisition of waveguide maker WaveOptics.

Why spend more than $500 million in stock and cash now to acquire a parts supplier when we’re still years—maybe even a decade, as Spiegel himself estimates—from consumers embracing AR glasses? It might simply be the case that Snap looked at Apple and Facebook and realized that securing its own supply of components could be worth it if it wants to make a serious go at AR.