Also I'd consider Microsoft too. Its Hololens is the best AR device available currently. Although it focuses on enterprise and still clunky to use, the company has quite good track record recently and I have faith in them.

If just Apple vs. Facebook, I'd vote for Apple. Apple would rather kill a product than release anything mediocre or exprimental.

I hope and expect that you're right: a) no-one needs any more Facebook in their lives, and b) Apple will probably start off decently and then can iterate.

It will need a paired device to operate decently. FB doesn’t have anything like a smart phone they control and sell. So they will need to depend on Android or iOS.

Google buying Snap might work out for Google - they released a crappy Google glass way too early and might be more successful buying Snap.

Wow, great point. So +1 for Apple.

Part of me thinks Google may be another contender but they don't seem to be investing as much as FB and Apple (correct me if I'm wrong). It's a real shame if they get left behind seeing as they seem to have a lot of the components of what could be a compelling AR experience (maps, translations, google lens, etc.). If Facebook's AR glasses catch on then Google could find themselves in the same position Microsoft was in during the Android/Windows Phone era.

For sure, but Google has never done well with hardware, and that seems essential for this. So I think you're right -- Google could end up being odd one out, or perhaps offering a version of Android on other people's hardware.

I'd throw Snap in the mix as well. Spectacles were not really a failure because it was never meant to be a mass market success. I think they're iterating in public. It's much better to do that, than stay secretive for years together and then launch an underwhelming product like Magic Leap. Snap has the AR capabilities and is the closest to getting people to wear hardware on their head in a casual setting.

Capturing images/video is the least interesting component of AR though. Until the spectacles begin to, you know, augment the world of the user through the introduction visual/auditory content - they will always be niche.

“ Snap has the AR capabilities and is the closest to getting people to wear hardware on their head in a casual setting”. I would also contest that Apple and others are already doing this through auditory augmentations via Airpods and similar earbuds/headphones.