Snapchat is working on its first hardware venture as news reports claimed that the $18-billion company is funding development for AR tech.

The report said that the company has registered with Bluetooth Special Interest Group, an oversight for licensing of Bluetooth trademarks and technologies, which further cemented speculations that it's working on augmented reality.

Snapchat's foray into AR is not really news since the company-founded by then Stanford University students Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown-has been trying out AR in its very popular app through a program it calls Lenses.

Lenses is a Snapchat support that adds sounds and special effects to one's selfie. It's compatible with Android and iOS.

This is big news because if this pans out, Snapchat would edge out the likes of Apple and Google for releasing standalone wearable for AR use. The Google Glass wasn't embraced by consumers because of the expensive cost, as well as the controversy about the device able to film secretly.

The news about Snapchat working on AR wearable was further bolstered by a previous report about the company hiring of personnel such as eyewear designer Lauryn Morries, former Google Project Aura head Dan Stein and two hardware designers from Nokia. Aura, for course, was responsible for Google Glass.

But Snapchat is not done recruitment. There are still vacancies at the Snap Lab, including a 3D computer vision engineer, who will be responsible for making a prototype for "groundbreaking new user experiences involving 3D graphics, including experiences that require visual understanding of the scene."