AI-Powered Smart Glasses: The Next Frontier in Wearable Technology

Meta and Google accelerate smart glasses development amid Asian supply chain challenges

Meta and Google are intensifying their focus on smart glasses development, with 2025 emerging as a crucial year for innovation in this sector. Meta aims to expand production significantly, while Google, despite earlier setbacks, is strengthening its position through the strategic acquisition of HTC's team. Both companies face mounting challenges in their Asian operations due to increasing US tariffs and political tensions, even as Chinese competitors like Xiaomi and ByteDance enter the market. The consumer electronics industry, grappling with stagnation in smartphone innovation, has witnessed challenges affecting even market leader Apple. While many industry players hope generative AI will reinvigorate smartphone sales, attention has notably shifted back to smart glasses, with companies riding the AI wave seeking to reestablish themselves in this market segment. Meta's 2025 strategic roadmap Meta's financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024 revealed impressive growth. By year-end, daily active users across Meta's applications reached 3.35 billion, a 5% increase from the previous year, with total revenue climbing to US$164.5 billion, representing 22% year-over-year growth. The company reported capital expenditures of US$39.23 billion. Following the earnings announcement, Zuckerberg expressed enthusiasm on social media about Meta's achievements in AI, smart glasses, and social media platforms, outlining plans for further expansion in 2025. He detailed how Meta's AI assistant will enhance personalization to better serve individual users. The company's Llama 4 model is undergoing training, while the Llama 4 mini has completed pre-training, with larger models showing promising development. Zuckerberg highlighted an AI engineering agent capable of intermediate-level programming and problem-solving, emphasizing its substantial business potential. Smart glasses as AI's ideal platform Zuckerberg discussed Meta's smart glasses strategy, noting that historically, third-generation consumer electronics products typically achieve sales between 5 million and 10 million units. The company's collaboration with Ray-Ban has gained significant momentum, with 2025 expected to reveal whether sales will continue their upward trajectory or require additional market development time. He emphasized smart glasses' potential as an optimal platform for AI applications. According to The Verge, Zuckerberg revealed in an internal meeting that Meta sold over one million smart glasses in 2024, targeting two to five million units in 2025, with plans for new model releases. Google is also strengthening its position in the smart glasses market. Following an initial setback and early 2024 downsizing of its AR hardware division, the company is now leveraging AI technologies and the Android XR system for next-generation product development. Google has invested US$250 million to acquire part of HTC's technology team, enhancing its XR capabilities and reinforcing its Asian supply chain presence. Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of Google's Platform and Devices division, recently announced an internal initiative offering voluntary severance packages to US-based employees. Industry analysts interpret this as a strategic move to optimize its US hardware operations while expanding its workforce in Asia, where labor costs are lower. However, the US government's additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods is increasing operational costs, creating new challenges for American companies in Asia. China decoupling challenges Despite Google's stated intention to gradually separate its supply chain from China, the company continues to face pressure from Chinese authorities, particularly as manufacturing partners relocate to Southeast Asia. While interest in smart glasses grows, Google and its competitors encounter significant obstacles in research, development, and manufacturing within the Asian market. Chinese manufacturers have recently launched several new smart glasses models, attracting considerable market attention. The segment has become another competitive frontier between American and Chinese companies, particularly in AI/AR technology advancement and cost management. DIGITIMES Research reports a marked increase in AI glasses products at CES, projecting over 100 new models to launch this year. Major companies planning AI glasses releases include Xiaomi, ByteDance, Samsung Electronics, Google, and others. Meanwhile, Apple, which had previously pursued smart glasses development, is reportedly suspending these plans.

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

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 PYMNTS. 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 PYMNTS 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." 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. 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."

What's next for smart glasses

For every technological gadget that becomes a household name, there are dozens that never catch on. This year marks a full decade since Google confirmed it was stopping production of Google Glass, and for a long time it appeared as though mixed-reality products -- think of the kinds of face computers that don't completely cover your field of view they way a virtual-reality headset does -- would remain the preserve of enthusiasts rather than casual consumers. Fast-forward 10 years, and smart glasses are on the verge of becoming -- whisper it -- cool. Meta's smart glasses, made in partnership with Ray-Ban, are basically indistinguishable from the iconic Wayfarers Tom Cruise made famous in Risky Business. Meta also recently showed off its fashion-forward Orion augmented reality glasses prototype, while Snap unveiled its fifth-generation Spectacles, neither of which would look out of place in the trendiest district of a major city. In December, Google showed off its new unnamed Android XR prototype glasses, and rumors that Apple is still working on a long-anticipated glasses project continue to swirl. Elsewhere, Chinese tech giants Huawei, Alibaba, Xiaomi, and Baidu are also vying for a slice of the market. Sleeker designs are certainly making this new generation of glasses more appealing. But more importantly, smart glasses are finally on the verge of becoming useful, and it's clear that Big Tech is betting that augmented specs will be the next big consumer device category. Here's what to expect from smart glasses in 2025 and beyond. Although mixed-reality devices have been around for decades, they have largely benefited specialized fields, including the medical, construction, and technical remote-assistance industries, where they are likely to continue being used, possibly in more specialized ways. Microsoft is the creator of the best-known of these devices, which layer virtual content over the wearer's real-world environment, and marketed its HoloLens 2 smart goggles to corporations. The company recently confirmed it was ending production of that device. Instead, it is choosing to focus on building headsets for the US military in partnership with Oculus founder Palmer Luckey's latest venture, Anduril. Now the general public may finally be getting access to devices they can use. The AI world is abuzz over agents, which augment large language models (LLMs) with the ability to carry out tasks by themselves. The past 12 months have seen huge leaps in AI multimodal LLMs' abilities to handle video, images, and audio in addition to text, which opens up new applications for smart glasses that would not have been possible previously, says Louis Rosenberg, an AR researcher who worked on the first functional augmented-reality system at Stanford University in the 1990s.