Race to make smart glasses relevant heats up again with new tech from Meta and Snap

More than a decennary ago, pricey astute glasses that allowed radical to drawback photos, substance and browse the web generated a batch of buzz but besides resistance.

People who wore Google Glass successful 2014 faced backlash implicit fears that the astute glasses, priced astatine $1,500, would secretly grounds radical oregon marque quality interactions socially awkward. Two years later, the institution down the disappearing messaging app Snapchat tried selling sunglasses equipped with a camera successful vending machines, but the wearable gadget besides flopped.

Today, large tech companies — including Facebook’s genitor institution Meta, Google and Snap — are racing erstwhile again to entice much radical to deterioration a machine connected their face, competing to physique what they presumption arsenic the adjacent large computing platform.

Apple, the shaper of the iPhone, and e-commerce elephantine Amazon are reportedly moving connected high-tech glasses too. And ChatGPT shaper OpenAI this twelvemonth teamed up with Jony Ive, a erstwhile Apple enforcement known for designing the iPhone, to physique caller AI devices that volition “completely reimagine what it means to usage a computer.”

The contention to make wearable exertion that could go arsenic ubiquitous arsenic smartphones is intensifying arsenic AI assistants go progressively integrated into people’s regular lives. The usage of astute glasses, however, is inactive niche and whitethorn instrumentality respective years to go much mainstream, analysts say.

“We’re heading successful the close direction. It seems similar 2025, 2026, adjacent 2027 volition beryllium the years of inflection successful the maturation trajectory for astute glasses,” said Jitesh Ubrani, a probe manager astatine the International Data Corporation who covers wearables.

Consumer adoption of astute glasses is growing. In the U.S., astir 17% of online adults bespeak they’ve utilized astute glasses, up from 4% successful 2024, a survey Forrester released this twelvemonth shows.

“While Meta has a caput commencement connected AI glasses, contention is champing astatine the bit,” wrote Mike Proulx, a vice president and probe manager astatine Forrester successful a blog station astir Meta’s AI-powered glasses. Samsung, HTC and Apple are expected to merchandise astute glasses adjacent year.

Snap, the Santa Monica-based tech institution down Snapchat, is besides positioning itself arsenic a contender.

Snap plans to merchantability much almighty augmented world glasses successful 2026. The institution announced this week that it updated the operating strategy that powers its AR glasses.

Augmented world exertion overlays computer-generated images implicit the carnal satellite and is utilized successful games similar Pokémon Go. It is besides utilized for look filters connected apps similar Snapchat wherever radical deterioration integer canine ears oregon alteration their hairsbreadth color.

Meta, which already sells Ray-Ban astute glasses and virtual world headsets, showcased its latest astute glasses successful Menlo Park, Calif., connected Wednesday night.

The lineup: a much precocious brace of Ray-Ban Meta glasses starting astatine $379 with a longer artillery life, AI adjunct and the quality to seizure much vivid videos; Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses starting astatine $499 designed for workouts; and Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses with a high-tech wristband starting astatine $799 that makes it imaginable for radical to nonstop substance messages and implicit different tasks utilizing subtle manus gestures.

“Glasses are the lone signifier origin wherever you tin fto an AI spot what you see, perceive what you hear, speech to you passim the day,” said Meta’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg connected Wednesday nighttime astatine Meta’s developer conference. “So it is nary astonishment that AI glasses are taking off.”

During the event, Zuckerberg showcased however donning astute glasses allows him to seizure video portion walking and moving astatine the aforesaid time. He showed however the astute glasses, erstwhile paired with a astute wristband, could beryllium utilized to constitute and nonstop substance by subtly moving one’s fingers.

He played euphony and adjacent tried to instrumentality a WhatsApp video telephone — though that unrecorded demo failed.

“We’ll debug that later,” Zuckerberg said connected signifier aft helium couldn’t reply the WhatsApp telephone utilizing the wristband and glasses. “You know, you signifier these things similar 100 times and then, you know, you ne'er cognize what’s going to happen.”

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the company’s Connect developer league Wednesday successful Menlo Park, Calif.

(Nic Coury / Associated Press)

IDC, which provides marketplace quality connected user technology, estimates that Meta accounted for astir 60% of the planetary marketplace for display-less astute glasses, on with augmented and virtual world headsets, during the 2nd 4th of 2025.

From precocious 2023 to the 2nd 4th of 2025, Meta has shipped much than 3.5 cardinal pairs of its Ray-Ban astute glasses. IDC anticipates the marketplace for astute glasses without displays volition turn to 9.4 cardinal successful 2025, up 247.5% from 2024 and astir of that volition beryllium driven by Meta.

Chinese tech companies specified arsenic Xiaomi and Huawei besides merchantability astute glasses, but their income inactive way acold down Meta, and they’re not arsenic good known successful the U.S., according to IDC.

A batch has changed since tech companies released astute glasses much than a decennary ago. Artificial quality has advanced, paving the mode for the improvement of different types of hardware.

Smart glasses person go much affordable, present successful the hundreds of dollars alternatively of much than $1,000. And radical are little bothered astir being filmed successful nationalist due to the fact that that’s already happening with smartphones.

Tech companies inactive person to person radical that astute glasses supply capable worth to walk hundreds of dollars on. And consumers, accustomed to whipping retired their smartphones to grounds everything, mightiness person to alteration their behavior.

“In immoderate ways, we’re benignant of returning to behaviors that were much natural,” Ubrani said. “Voice is simply a precise earthy idiosyncratic interface, arsenic are manus gestures.”