Spectacles SnapML — Reference Guide

SnapML lets you run custom machine learning models directly on the Spectacles hardware, with no cloud round-trip needed. Models run on the device's NPU (preferred) or GPU, making inference fast enough for real-time AR (typically 10–30 fps depending on model size).

Official docs: Spectacles Home · SnapML on Spectacles

Simulator note: On the Lens Studio desktop simulator, MLComponent falls back to CPU. Always profile on-device for accurate performance numbers.

Supported Model Formats

Format	Notes
TensorFlow Lite (`.tflite`)	Primary format; recommended for NPU
ONNX (`.onnx`)	Supported via Lens Studio's ONNX importer

Export your model as TFLite or ONNX and drag it into the Lens Studio Asset panel. Lens Studio will show it as an ML Model asset.

Core API: `MLComponent`

The MLComponent manages a model's lifecycle (load → input → run → output).

Setup in Lens Studio

Add an ML Component to a Scene Object (Add Component → ML → ML Controller).
Assign your ML Model asset to the component.
Configure inputs (camera texture, custom texture, or float arrays) and outputs in the inspector.

Synchronous inference (per frame, blocking)

const mlComponent = this.sceneObject.getComponent('MLComponent')

const updateEvent = this.createEvent('UpdateEvent')
updateEvent.bind(() => {
  mlComponent.runImmediate(false)  // false = use camera texture input automatically
  processOutputs()
})

function processOutputs(): void {
  const outputData = mlComponent.getOutput('output_0').data as Float32Array
  // Parse bounding boxes, class IDs, confidence scores...
}

Asynchronous inference (non-blocking, better framerate)

Running ML synchronously every frame can drop framerate. Use runScheduled to run inference async:

onAwake(): void {
  const mlComponent = this.sceneObject.getComponent('MLComponent')

  // Enable scheduled (async) mode
  mlComponent.runScheduled(true)

  // Outputs are updated automatically when inference completes
  mlComponent.onRunningFinished.add(() => {
    processOutputs(mlComponent)
  })
}

Running inference every 2–3 frames also helps when you don't need 60 Hz detection:

let frameCounter = 0

updateEvent.bind(() => {
  frameCounter++
  if (frameCounter % 3 === 0) {
    mlComponent.runImmediate(false)
    processOutputs()
  }
})

Object Detection Pattern

Object detection models output lists of bounding boxes + class IDs + confidence scores.

Parsing SSD-style output

const NUM_DETECTIONS = 20
const BOX_STRIDE = 4 // [ymin, xmin, ymax, xmax] per box

interface Detection {
  ymin: number; xmin: number; ymax: number; xmax: number
  score: number; classId: number
}

function parseDetections(
  rawBoxes: Float32Array,
  rawScores: Float32Array,
  threshold: number
): Detection[] {
  const detections: Detection[] = []
  for (let i = 0; i < NUM_DETECTIONS; i++) {
    const score = rawScores[i]
    if (score < threshold) continue
    const base = i * BOX_STRIDE
    detections.push({
      ymin: rawBoxes[base],
      xmin: rawBoxes[base + 1],
      ymax: rawBoxes[base + 2],
      xmax: rawBoxes[base + 3],
      score,
      classId: i
    })
  }
  return detections
}

Projecting bounding boxes to screen space

const camera = scene.findByName('Camera').getComponent('Camera') as Camera

function boxCenterToWorldPos(normX: number, normY: number, distance: number): vec3 {
  const screenPos = new vec2(normX * screen.getWidth(), normY * screen.getHeight())
  return camera.screenToWorld(screenPos, distance)
}

Smoothing Detection Jitter (Low-pass Filter)

const SMOOTH = 0.3 // lerp factor — lower = smoother, higher = more responsive

const smoothedBox = { x: 0, y: 0, w: 0, h: 0 }

function smoothDetection(rawBox: {x: number, y: number, w: number, h: number}): void {
  smoothedBox.x = smoothedBox.x + (rawBox.x - smoothedBox.x) * SMOOTH
  smoothedBox.y = smoothedBox.y + (rawBox.y - smoothedBox.y) * SMOOTH
  smoothedBox.w = smoothedBox.w + (rawBox.w - smoothedBox.w) * SMOOTH
  smoothedBox.h = smoothedBox.h + (rawBox.h - smoothedBox.h) * SMOOTH
}

Object Tracking (between inference frames)

After detecting an object, track it across frames using ObjectTracking3D:

const objectTracker = require('LensStudio:ObjectTracking3D')

const trackerSession = objectTracker.createSession({
  inputTexture: cameraTexture,
  boundingBox: initialDetectionBox,  // from ML output
})

trackerSession.onUpdate.add((trackedObject) => {
  myArObject.getTransform().setWorldTransform(trackedObject.pose)
})

trackerSession.onLost.add(() => {
  myArObject.enabled = false
})

trackerSession.start()

The tracker is cheaper than full detection — run ML every N frames and fill gaps with tracking.

Integrating with Physics

ML detections can drive physics interactions:

const body = tableColliderObject.getComponent('Physics.BodyComponent')
const detectedBox = latestDetection.worldBoundingBox
tableColliderObject.getTransform().setWorldPosition(detectedBox.center)
tableColliderObject.getTransform().setWorldScale(detectedBox.size)

NPU Performance Tips

Tip	Reason
Use INT8-quantised models	Smaller, faster; NPU is optimised for INT8
Avoid FP32 layers in the model	FP32 ops may fall back from NPU to GPU
Match input texture resolution exactly	Avoid upsampling inside the model
Use `runScheduled(true)` for async inference	Keeps the AR framerate smooth
Run inference every 2–3 frames	Most detection tasks don't need 60 Hz
Profile in Lens Studio's Performance panel	Shows NPU vs. GPU time per frame

Common Gotchas

Input tensor shape must match exactly — check the model's expected input shape (e.g., [1, 320, 320, 3]) and set the ML Component input resolution accordingly.
Output tensor interpretation varies by architecture (SSD, YOLO, EfficientDet) — read the model paper or training code.
On-device models cannot be updated without a lens update — use RSG + cloud inference (spectacles-ai) if you need dynamic model updates.
Desktop simulator uses CPU — always test performance on-device (Spectacles) for realistic NPU numbers.
Camera access permission must be enabled in Project Settings for ML to work on camera frames.
ObjectTracking3D requires an initial detection as a seed — it won't track without one.

spectacles-snapml