Spectacles Lens Essentials — Reference Guide

A compact reference for the most commonly used systems when building Spectacles lenses in Lens Studio.

Official docs: Spectacles Home · Features Overview · Spatial Design

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GestureModule (Spectacles Gesture API)

The docs describe the Gesture Module as an ML-based API for reliable gesture detection (pinch, targeting, grab). Use it for raw events when you need more control than SIK components.

The GestureModule is the Spectacles-native API for reliable ML-based gesture detection. Use it for raw pinch, targeting, and grab events when you need more control than SIK's higher-level components offer.

@component
export class GestureExample extends BaseScriptComponent {
  private gestureModule: GestureModule = require('LensStudio:GestureModule')

  onAwake(): void {
    // --- Pinch ---
    this.gestureModule
      .getPinchDownEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Right)
      .add((args: PinchDownArgs) => {
        // args.confidence: 0–1, how confident the model is
        // args.palmOrientation: vec3, palm facing direction
        print('Right pinch down, confidence: ' + args.confidence)
      })

    this.gestureModule
      .getPinchStrengthEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Right)
      .add((args: PinchStrengthArgs) => {
        // args.strength: 0 = no pinch, 1 = full pinch
        print('Pinch strength: ' + args.strength)
      })

    this.gestureModule
      .getPinchUpEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Right)
      .add((args: PinchUpArgs) => {
        // args.palmOrientation: vec3
        print('Right pinch up')
      })

    // Use GestureModule.HandType.Left, .Right, or .Both
  }
}

Targeting Gesture (index finger pointing)

this.gestureModule
  .getTargetingStartEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Right)
  .add(() => print('Started pointing'))

this.gestureModule
  .getTargetingEndEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Right)
  .add(() => print('Stopped pointing'))

Grab Gesture (fist)

this.gestureModule
  .getGrabStartEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Both)
  .add(() => print('Grab started (either hand)'))

this.gestureModule
  .getGrabEndEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Both)
  .add(() => print('Grab released'))

Phone-in-Hand Detection

this.gestureModule
  .getPhoneInHandEvent(GestureModule.HandType.Right)
  .add(() => print('User is holding a phone in their right hand'))

GestureModule vs SIK: Use GestureModule when you need raw events and confidence values. Use SIK's PinchButton, DragInteractable, etc. when you want high-level UI components with built-in visual feedback.

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Spectacles Interaction Kit (SIK)

SIK is Snap's prebuilt AR interaction library. Add it to a project via the Asset Library: search "Spectacles Interaction Kit". All SIK imports use the SpectaclesInteractionKit.lspkg package path.

Key SIK Components

Component	Purpose
HandInputData	Access hand pose, finger positions, pinch state per frame
PinchButton	Trigger an action on pinch; works with either hand
DragInteractable	Make any scene object draggable by hand
GrabInteractable	Grab and move objects with a fist gesture
ScrollView	Scrollable UI list driven by hand swipe
ToggleButton	On/off button, syncs visual state

ToggleButton

import { ToggleButton } from 'SpectaclesInteractionKit.lspkg/Components/UI/ToggleButton/ToggleButton'

const toggleButton = this.sceneObject.getComponent(ToggleButton.getTypeName()) as ToggleButton

// React to toggle events
toggleButton.onStateChanged.add((isOn: boolean) => {
  print('Toggle is now: ' + (isOn ? 'ON' : 'OFF'))
  lampObject.enabled = isOn
})

// Read current state
if (toggleButton.isToggledOn) {
  print('Button is currently ON')
}

// Force a state programmatically
toggleButton.toggle()

ScrollView

import { ScrollView } from 'SpectaclesInteractionKit.lspkg/Components/UI/ScrollView/ScrollView'

const scrollView = this.sceneObject.getComponent(ScrollView.getTypeName()) as ScrollView

// Listen for scroll position changes
scrollView.onScrollPositionChanged.add((normalizedPos: number) => {
  // normalizedPos: 0 = top, 1 = bottom
  print('Scroll position: ' + normalizedPos)
  updateVisibleItems(normalizedPos)
})

Reading hand position in script

import { HandInputData } from 'SpectaclesInteractionKit.lspkg/Providers/HandInputData/HandInputData'

const handData = HandInputData.getInstance()

const updateEvent = this.createEvent('UpdateEvent')
updateEvent.bind(() => {
  const rightHand = handData.getDominantHand()
  if (rightHand.isPinching()) {
    const pinchPos = rightHand.getPinchPosition()
    print('Pinch at: ' + JSON.stringify(pinchPos))
  }
})

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Physics

Lens Studio uses a Bullet-based physics engine. Components: Body, Collider, and Constraint.

Setting up a physics object

1. Add a Physics Body component (static, kinematic, or dynamic).
2. Add a Collider (Box, Sphere, Capsule, or Mesh).
3. Dynamic objects respond to gravity and forces automatically.

Applying forces in script

const body = this.sceneObject.getComponent('Physics.BodyComponent')

// Apply an impulse at the object's center
body.applyImpulse(new vec3(0, 500, -200))

// Apply torque
body.applyTorqueImpulse(new vec3(0, 10, 0))

// Set velocity directly (useful for throwing)
body.velocity = velocity
body.angularVelocity = angularVel

Throw mechanics (from Throw Lab)

// Sample hand position over N frames, compute delta / dt
const velocity = (currentPos.sub(prevPos)).uniformScale(1 / getDeltaTime())
body.velocity = velocity.uniformScale(throwStrength)

Physics callbacks

body.onCollisionEnter.add((collision) => {
  const other = collision.otherObject
  print('Hit: ' + other.name)

  if (collision.contacts.length > 0) {
    const point = collision.contacts[0].position
    spawnParticles(point)
  }
})

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Audio

Play audio

const audioComponent = this.sceneObject.getComponent('Component.AudioComponent')
audioComponent.audioTrack = myAudioTrack   // assign in inspector or via script
audioComponent.play(1)                       // play once (pass 0 for loop)
audioComponent.stop()

Record and play back voice (from Voice Playback sample)

const voiceML = require('LensStudio:VoiceML')

let recordedBuffer: AudioBuffer | null = null

voiceML.startRecording((buffer: AudioBuffer) => {
  recordedBuffer = buffer
})

voiceML.stopRecording()
if (recordedBuffer) {
  audioComponent.playAudioBuffer(recordedBuffer)
}

Audio mixer channels

audioComponent.mixerChannel = 'Music'   // or 'SFX', 'Voice'

Audio-reactive visuals with AudioSpectrum

AudioSpectrum gives you per-frame frequency band data from any AudioComponent — useful for visualisers, beat-reactive effects, or driving shader parameters.

const audioSpectrum = this.sceneObject.getComponent('Component.AudioSpectrumComponent')

const updateEvent = this.createEvent('UpdateEvent')
updateEvent.bind(() => {
  // bands: Float32Array of frequency magnitudes (length depends on band count setting)
  const bands = audioSpectrum.getBands()
  const bass  = bands[0]   // low frequency (kick drum, bass)
  const mid   = bands[Math.floor(bands.length / 2)] // midrange
  const high  = bands[bands.length - 1] // high frequency (hi-hat, sibilance)

  // Drive a VFX property or shader uniform:
  vfxComponent.asset.properties['intensity'] = bass
  mat.mainPass.baseColor = new vec4(mid, 0.2, high, 1.0)

  // Drive an object's scale
  const s = 1.0 + bass * 2.0
  this.sceneObject.getTransform().setLocalScale(new vec3(s, s, s))
})

Set up AudioSpectrumComponent in the Inspector: assign the AudioComponent source, set band count (32 or 64 are common), and choose linear or logarithmic scale.

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Animation with LSTween

LSTween (bundled in SIK) is a Lens Studio tween library for smooth property animation.

import { LSTween } from 'SpectaclesInteractionKit.lspkg/Utils/LSTween/LSTween'

// Move an object to a target position over 0.5 seconds
LSTween.moveToWorld(sceneObject, targetPosition, 0.5)
  .easing(TWEEN.Easing.Quadratic.Out)
  .start()

// Scale up
LSTween.scaleTo(sceneObject, new vec3(1, 1, 1), 0.3).start()

// Fade a screen image
LSTween.colorTo(screenImage, new vec4(1, 1, 1, 0), 0.4).start() // fade out

Chain tweens with .onComplete:

LSTween.moveTo(obj, posA, 0.5)
  .onComplete(() => LSTween.moveTo(obj, posB, 0.5).start())
  .start()

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Materials & Shaders

Modifying material properties at runtime

const meshVisual = this.sceneObject.getComponent('Component.RenderMeshVisual')
const mat = meshVisual.material.clone() // clone so you don't affect other objects using same material
meshVisual.material = mat

mat.mainPass.baseColor = new vec4(1, 0, 0, 1) // red
mat.mainPass.opacity = 0.5

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Spatial Images (2D → 3D)

const spatialImageModule = require('LensStudio:SpatialImageModule')

spatialImageModule.createSpatialImageFromTexture(myTexture, (spatialImage) => {
  spatialImage.setParent(scene.getRootObject(0))
  spatialImage.getTransform().setWorldPosition(targetPosition)
})

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Spatial Anchors & Persistent Storage

const spatialAnchorModule = require('LensStudio:SpatialAnchorModule')

// Create an anchor at a world position
spatialAnchorModule.createAnchor(worldPosition, (anchor) => {
  saveToStorage('my_anchor', anchor.id)
})

// Later: restore the anchor
const anchorId = loadFromStorage('my_anchor')
spatialAnchorModule.getAnchor(anchorId, (anchor) => {
  sceneObject.getTransform().setWorldPosition(anchor.worldPosition)
})

Persistent Storage (on-device)

const storage = global.persistentStorageSystem

storage.store.putString('username', 'Roland')
storage.store.putFloat('highScore', 42.5)

const name = storage.store.getString('username')
const score = storage.store.getFloat('highScore')

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Display & sizing (Spectacles)

From the Spatial Design docs: the displays achieve full overlap at 1.1 m from the user; at that distance the visible content area is ~1000×1397 px (~53×77 cm). The focus plane is at 1 m — place highly detailed content near this distance. The display is portrait ~3:4. Design for hands-free and natural interactions; the OS reserves space on the hand for a system button; the rest is available for your lens.

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Common Gotchas

• GestureModule requires Spectacles — it is not available for phone lenses or in the desktop simulator.
• SIK components expect a specific scene hierarchy — read the SIK setup guide in its README before restructuring the scene.
• Physics and the World Mesh: enable the World Mesh Collider in Project Settings → World Understanding so physics objects land on real surfaces.
• Cloning materials: always call material.clone() before modifying properties at runtime, otherwise all objects sharing that material change together.
• getDeltaTime() is your friend for frame-rate-independent motion.
• Spatial anchors require the user to rescan the area if they move far away; give the user a visual "anchor not found" state.
• Audio latency: use pre-loaded AudioTrack assets rather than loading from URL for low-latency sound effects.

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Reference Examples

• HandAttacher.ts - Complete object joint binding script with SIK HandInputData and interpolation.
• Example_ChainTween.ts - Demonstrates advanced LSTween chaining and API constraints.