Artificial intelligence wearables have had a rough year.
Just a few months ago, the tech world was convinced that artificial intelligence hardware could be the next big thing. It’s an exciting vision, underpinned by futuristic presentation and stylish hardware. The focus of attention is the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1. Both men promised a grand future. None have been shipped.
It’s an old story in the world of electronics. A decade ago, smart glasses and augmented reality headsets went through a similar hype cycle. Google Glass infamously promised a future where reality is overlaid with useful information. In the years since, Magic Leap, Focals By North, Microsoft’s HoloLens, Apple’s Vision Pro and, most recently, new Snapchat Spectacles have all tried to keep the vision alive, but with no real commercial success.
So, all things considered, it’s somewhat ironic that the best option for a viable AI wearable device is a pair of smart glasses – specifically the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
The interesting thing about Meta smart glasses is that no one expected them to be so successful. Part of the reason is that the first iteration, the Ray-Ban Story, was a complete failure. Part of the reason is that they are not smart glasses that offer new ideas. Bose already made stylish audio sunglasses and then shut down the entire business. Snap Spectacles has tried recording short social videos, but it’s clearly not good enough. On paper, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses don’t have a compelling reason to resonate with people.
However, they have It has achieved success that other artificial intelligence wearable devices and smart glasses have not yet achieved. Remarkably, this exceeded even Meta’s own expectations.
A lot of this comes down to the style Meta finally settled on and implement. Compared to Stories, Meta glasses come in many different styles and colors. You’ll almost certainly find something that works for you. In this regard, Meta is shrewd enough to understand that ordinary people No Hopefully they look like they just stepped out of a sci-fi movie. They want to look cool Today’s standard.
At $299, they’re expensive, but affordable compared to the $3,500 Vision Pro or the $699 Humane pin. Audio quality is very good. The call quality is surprisingly The effect is very good thanks to the well-positioned microphone on the bridge of the nose. Unlike Stories or Snap’s early Spectacles, the videos and photos are of good enough quality to be posted on Instagram without feeling awkward—especially in the age of content creators, where POV-style Instagram Reels and TikTok are selling like hotcakes.
This is a device that can easily fit into people’s lives Now. No need to wait for future software updates. This is not a solution looking for a problem to solve. This is why Ray-Ban glasses can successfully solve the problem of artificial intelligence.
That’s because artificial intelligence already exists—it’s just a feature, not the entire trick. You can use it to identify objects you encounter or tell you more about landmarks. You can ask Meta AI to write questionable captions or translations for your Instagram posts. You can have a video call with your friends and they will be able to see what you see. All of these use cases make sense for the device and how you use it.
In reality, these features are a bit weird and inelegant. Meta AI hasn’t written yet OK Instagram Caption, My voice is often hard to hear in noisy environments. But unlike the Rabbit R1, it actually works. Unlike the Humane, it doesn’t overheat and there’s no lag because it uses your phone to do the processing. Crucially, unlike both devices, even when the AI screws up, it still does other things well.
This is good enough. at present. Looking to the future, the pressure remains. Meta’s strategy is that if people have access to simpler smart glasses, they’ll become more accustomed to using face computers when artificial intelligence (and eventually AR) is ready for prime time.
They have proven the first part of the equation. But if the latter were to come to fruition, artificial intelligence would be unlikely to function properly or be usable. Must be sincere OK. It has to jump from “Oh, this is handy at work” to “I wear smart glasses all day because my life is so It’s much easier with them than without them. For now, many of the Meta Glass’ AI features are neat but essentially party tricks.
It’s a tall order, but of all the people out there, Meta seems to be the most likely to succeed. Neither style nor wearability is an issue. It just signed a deal with EssilorLuxxotica to extend its smart glasses partnership beyond 2030. The rest is up to Meta to see if it can play a role in the rest.
It will have a chance to prove its capabilities at next week’s Meta Connect event. This is prime time. Humane’s daily returns exceed sales. Critics accuse Rabbit of being nothing more than a hoax. Experts don’t even believe that Apple’s iPhone 16 big AI-inspired “supercycle” will happen. A win here would not only solidify Meta’s leadership position, but also help keep the dream of artificial intelligence hardware alive.
