AI-Powered smart glasses. Some of the biggest tech companies are betting that you’ll want to put artificial intelligence right on your face. There’s now a race among companies like Meta, Google, Apple, Alibaba, and Xiaomi to roll out smart glasses that use AI to do everything from translating languages to taking videos simply by wearing what looks like a regular pair of specs.
Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, for example, have become pretty popular since they launched a few years ago, and Oakley even came out with its own “performance” model this summer. Some companies are going a step further with glasses that will have a display screen built in.
It’s not just American brands jumping in. Google’s teamed up with Warby Parker for new Android-powered glasses, Chinese brands are joining the game, and it’s rumoured Apple might have something up its sleeve, too. Snap even has plans for augmented reality glasses powered by AI.
What Can These Glasses Do?
The idea is for the glasses to make life easier. You could ask the AI to translate a sign, find a good place to eat, or take a video, all hands-free. Instead of pulling out your phone every time you need something, you just talk to your glasses.
Joelle Pineau, a computer science professor who used to head Meta’s Al research, says this makes sense. Lots of people are glued to their phones all day, so glasses are a more “natural” way to use technology. Plus, millions of people already wear regular glasses.
That bet might be paying off. Meta’s parent company says it has sold millions of these smart glasses, and industry experts expect the market to explode by 2030.
What Are People Worried About?
Here’s where things get tricky: privacy. Not everyone is comfortable with the idea that a random person’s glasses could be recording video or listening in. There have already been a few cases where people misused the tech, like secretly recording in public places. In one recent trial in London, a man was actually kept out of the courtroom for wearing smart glasses because of concerns he might film the proceedings.
Even when smart glasses have a light to show they’re recording, it’s easy to miss it or cover it up. Plus, companies store the voice commands you give to Al, and you can delete recordings one by one, but there’s no single way to turn off data collection entirely.
People also remember the flop of Google Glass back in 2014. That gadget was expensive, looked odd, and made people uncomfortable about being watched. VR headsets are out there, too, but most folks still view them as gaming devices, not something they’d wear every day.
According to Pineau, people want more control over what the glasses collect and share, but the settings are complicated and hard to adjust. Some are fine sharing lots of data, others aren’t. Companies need to do a better job letting users pick what they’re comfortable with.
Do Smart Glasses Make Sense?
There’s also debate about whether smart glasses are “the next big thing.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks these types of wearables might even replace smartphones one day. He says that in the future, not having Al in your glasses could become as much of a disadvantage as not having glasses to correct your eyesight.
Some tech writers and experts are more skeptical. They point out that, right now, tech companies are obsessed with AI and investors love anything AI-related, so everyone wants a piece of the action. But that doesn’t always mean these gadgets will be as useful or popular as promised.
Others, like researcher David Karpf, wonder if these companies are just trying to win the “AI race” instead of making something truly life-changing. Will we all really want to walk around with smart glasses-or are the tech companies just convincing themselves that we do?
The Bottom Line
Smart glasses powered by AI are starting to show up everywhere. They really could make life easier in some ways, but there are a lot of questions left: Will people accept them? Can we trust what they do with our data? Are tech companies moving too fast, or will these glasses really make a difference in daily life?
For now, the tech giants will keep pushing, and we’ll have to decide for ourselves if the convenience is worth any trade-offs.