Meta, Google, and Apple push eyewear as AI’s next interface

Major technology companies are racing to create artificial intelligence-powered eyewear as they search for the next breakthrough hardware product to complement their AI software advances.

While AI tools have started changing how people work, helping draft documents and create presentations, these capabilities remain mostly entertainment features for everyday users. Tech firms now face a bigger challenge: if AI is going to change how humans interact with computers, moving beyond search boxes and touchscreens, the industry needs fresh hardware designs to match.

Smart glasses emerge as the leading candidate

Smart glasses powered by AI appear to be emerging as the favored solution among Silicon Valley’s leading players. Instead of abandoning displays worn on the face, companies are working to perfect eyewear technology. Critics question whether this approach can truly replace smartphones, and some technology reviewers remain skeptical about yet another attempt to make wearable glasses mainstream.

However, other industry watchers have become more receptive to the concept. A specialized or moderately-sized customer group could still generate substantial profits, particularly when the glasses resemble familiar styles like Ray-Ban Wayfarers, an approach that helped Meta gain early traction in wearables.

This week, Snap revealed plans to establish a separate company for its augmented reality eyewear product, Specs. The move aims to attract external funding and compete against Meta, which has established a strong position in wearables through its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Meta has prioritized eyewear development, channeling most of its Reality Labs funding toward wearable technology. The company announced plans to invest up to $135 billion in capital expenditures this year when releasing quarterly results.

According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s glasses sales jumped threefold last year. He characterized Meta’s eyewear as among the quickest-growing consumer electronics products ever released. The company plans to showcase its new Oakley Meta AI glasses during a Super Bowl advertisement next month.

Market research from IDC shows Meta controls 70% of the smart glasses sector last year.

Competition heats up across the industry

Additional major tech corporations and newer companies are joining the competition.

Google has formed partnerships with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster to build AI-equipped smart glasses. These devices will incorporate cameras, speakers, and microphones while running Google’s Gemini AI technology. Users can choose an optional display built into the lenses that presents text messages, navigation instructions, and instant translations.

OpenAI, the organization responsible for ChatGPT, spent $6.5 billion purchasing io, an AI device company founded by Jony Ive. This acquisition signals OpenAI’s ambition to help determine what product might eventually succeed the iPhone. Ive previously served as Apple’s chief design officer.

Apple itself is reportedly working on its own smart glasses product.

An unexpected aspect of choosing smart glasses as the next major consumer gadget is their continued dependence on phones for internet connections and computing capabilities. Users aren’t exactly breaking free from phones; they’re just extending their reach. Still, a longer connection beats a short one. This same criticism applies to various wearable products. Eventually, AI glasses will likely operate independently.

Product designers are considering a fundamental question: where would AI exist if smartphones had never been invented? If people could use large language models through a different type of device, free from the assumptions created by our phone-centered world, what would work best?

Consumers can’t answer this question themselves, similar to how they didn’t anticipate that smartphones should include apps until Steve Jobs introduced the concept. As AI pushes the technology sector toward a hardware transformation, among other shifts, glasses seem to represent the strongest initial answer. They probably won’t be the final answer, though.

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