AI is Driving a Smart Glasses Boom. Will It Last?

A decade after the debut of the original Google Glass — frame-only glasses with a small computer in the place of lenses — a new wave of next-generation smart glasses has emerged.

Meta, Amazon, Snap, Samsung, Baidu, Xiaomi and Google, through its Android XR operating system, are betting on smart glasses to be the next popular connected wearable. About a dozen smaller companies — such as Viture, Even Realities, Brilliant, Solos and Halliday — are also making smart glasses, using the artificial intelligence (AI) of popular large language models like ChatGPT.

Unlike the bulky augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets of old, these AI-powered smart glasses are encased in traditional frames of various styles so users don’t look out of place in public. But all of them carry serious electronics to power AI capabilities like online searches and translations.

AI is the game-changer. “The real value comes in the integration of generative AI and a digital assistant that understands your preferences and needs,” Ziad Asghar, Qualcomm’s general manager of extended reality (XR), wrote in a September blog post. In addition to giving users information, AI now can understand images, videos and audio, which “supercharges” the smart glasses, he said.

David Jiang, a former Google executive and CEO of smart glass company Viture, agreed.

AI makes smart glasses “more intuitive and practical for everyday use, whether you’re streaming, gaming or navigating the world around you,” Jiang told PayTechFocus. But beyond entertainment, the embedded AI acts as a personal assistant that anticipates user needs, streamlines daily tasks and performs activities like ordering food, hailing a ride and others.

A PayTechFocus Intelligence report said people often use connected devices to multitask, especially among the younger, digital-first generations. Smart glasses provide hands-free connectivity to users, who can use the embedded AI assistant to do online searches, take photos or videos, read and write text messages, and translate foreign languages in real time, among other capabilities.

This versatility is key. Jiang said when he was at Google, he saw firsthand why Google Glass didn’t succeed. “People didn’t have a reason to wear it every day.” He believes it’s different today. “5G is here. Cloud gaming is mainstream. Streaming services are everywhere. Consumers want a better way to experience content without being tethered to a small screen.”

Is AI Enough?

But are the added functionalities from AI enough to make these glasses popular with the masses, or will it stay a niche product?

Even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose Ray-Ban smart glasses are said to be the best-selling in the market, wasn’t so sure.

“Our Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses are a real hit, and this will be the year when we understand the trajectory for AI glasses as a category,” Zuckerberg said during a recent call with analysts.

Meta has sold one million Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2024. However, Zuckerberg pointed out that “many breakout products” in consumer electronics sell five million to 10 million units of their third-generation versions before becoming a long-term success.

“This will be a defining year that determines if we’re on a path towards many hundreds of millions and eventually billions of AI glasses — and glasses being the next computing platform like we’ve been talking about for some time — or if this is just going to be a longer grind,” Zuckerberg said.

Meta’s smart glasses are powered by Meta AI, an AI assistant built on top of the company’s powerful flagship foundation model, Llama 3. Since launching its smart glasses in 2023, Meta has been beefing up its AI capabilities, adding the ability to see and hear surroundings and do live translations. This is in addition to its photo-taking and video-recording features.

Meanwhile, Apple reportedly killed plans for smart glasses that will have AR capabilities.

Jiang said smart glasses probably won’t replace smartphones “anytime soon” but rather will complement them and lead to reduced screen time. He said that smart glasses still face “insurmountable limitations in weight, ergonomics and style.” The maximum comfortable weight is around 40 grams (0.1 pound), he added. “Anything heavier, and people simply won’t use them.”

Also, features like 5G connectivity, extended battery life and more efficient interactions “still require a handheld component,” Jiang said. That means smart glasses would likely need a “handheld controller.” He believes that smartphones might one day become controllers for smart glasses.

A Boost to AR/VR

Mithilesh Ramaswamy, a senior engineer at Microsoft who specializes in AI and security, thinks smart glasses still have a way to go before becoming truly mainstream. However, their increasing popularity will drive wider AR/VR adoption because “unlike bulky headsets, smart glasses integrate AI-driven AR overlays into daily life, in a less intrusive way.”

Jiang agreed. “If there’s a thinner and lighter option, why not? The essence of technological advancement is making things lighter and thinner while expanding accessibility,” he said. His company’s Viture Pro XR smart glasses offer a mixed reality feature, but most smart glasses in the market today do not.

Last September, Meta introduced Orion, a prototype AR glasses that look like ordinary but thicker eyeglasses. However, the user also must carry a ‘wireless puck’ to support apps and graphics and wear a wristband to translate hand movements. It’s still not ready for the market.

In the meantime, Ramaswamy said VR/AR headsets have their place in areas such as high-precision manufacturing and assembly, medical and surgical fields, as well as hyper-personalized education and training.

Zuckerberg chose to be optimistic about the future of AI smart glasses: “There are a lot of people in the world who have glasses. It’s kind of hard for me to imagine that a decade or more from now all the glasses aren’t going to basically be AI glasses.” Even people who don’t wear glasses would find these AI devices to be useful, he added. “So, I’m incredibly optimistic.”