Smart Glasses

5TH YEAR ON THE LIST

Smart glasses will be the successor to the smartphone as the primary personal device, and serve as a central technology for experiencing XR and the metaverse.

KEY INSIGHT

Resembling traditional glasses, but equipped with audio technology, cameras, and eventually smart lenses capable of displaying complex, dynamic visuals to the viewer, smart eyewear is poised to supplant the smartphone as the predominant personal device. If the future is the metaverse, smart eyewear is our primary way in.

EXAMPLES

Basic smart eyewear is already on the market, incorporating technology like voice assistants, touch-control surfaces, video capture, and bone conduction audio, which allows users to take calls and hear music and voice messages without putting hardware in their ears. These early-generation examples of smart eyewear, including Amazon’s Echo Frames and RayBan’s Stories, made in collaboration with Facebook (now Meta), are intended to familiarize the public with the devices, and potentially encourage early adopters who don’t otherwise wear glasses to try out frames that have added functionality. But the long-term play will involve smart lenses, and serve as a wearable device for seamlessly experiencing XR and the metaverse. Meta has even begun developing what it calls “reverse pass-through” technology, which broadcasts live video of a user’s eyes on the exterior of the smart eyewear lenses, allowing onlookers to see their full face even when the user is viewing immersive virtual content.

DISRUPTIVE IMPACT

Smart eyewear is expected to upend industries and interfaces designed for the smartphone by offering a more versatile and immersive hands-free alternative to the trusted mobile device. Eventually these devices will allow the metaverse to be ever-present in our everyday lives.

EMERGING PLAYERS

• Amazon’s Echo Frames • Apple’s forthcoming smart eyewear product • Meta’s Project Aria • Nreal Light • RayBan Stories • Snap Spectacles 3 • Vue • Vuzix Blade