Smart Glasses

Type

Wearable device, Eyewear

Applications

Sports (cycling, running, skiing, golf, tennis, sailing), Healthcare, Retail, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Social media

Capabilities

Overlay digital information, Hands-free interaction, AI assistants, Photo/video capture, Open-ear audio, Adjustable tint, Real-time data display, Virtual try-on, Live-streaming

Key Components

Miniature computer display, Cameras, Sensors (gyroscopes, accelerometers), Processors, Wireless connectivity, Liquid crystal lenses

Core Technology

Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR)

Market Forecast (2024)

2.7 million units sold (IDC)

Market Forecast (2029)

18.7 million units sold (IDC)

2024

2025

## Understanding Smart Glasses Smart glasses are wearable devices that incorporate a miniature computer display into a pair of eyeglasses. Unlike traditional glasses, they offer augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR) capabilities, transforming users’ perceptions of the world around us. By overlaying digital information in the real world, smart glasses provide users with valuable insights, immersive experiences, and hands-free interaction with digital content. [...] Smart glasses, known also as tech glasses or smart lens glasses, have become a game-changing device that seamlessly blends innovation, functionality, and even fashion in our modern, fast-paced technological era. These innovative eyewear pieces offer a multitude of features and capabilities that elevate our everyday encounters. In this article, we will focus on the marvels of smart glasses, delve into their intricate mechanisms, and explore their diverse applications. [...] To enable this, smart glasses employ advanced technologies, including cameras, sensors, processors, and wireless connectivity. The cameras capture the user’s surroundings, allowing the device to understand the environment and overlay digital information accordingly. The sensors, such as gyroscopes and accelerometers, track the user’s head movements, enabling the device to adjust the displayed content in real-time based on the user’s perspective.

Smart glasses include any eyewear that contains electronic components and can do anything beyond correcting your vision or protecting your eyes. As you can imagine, that covers a wide array of devices that can do completely different things. [...] With technology like cameras, displays, and sensors built into their frames, smart glasses can offer augmented reality (AR) views, AI assistants, and Instagrammable snapshots right on your face. I've been covering smart glasses since they first hit the market and have seen them evolve from basic phone-tethered wearable displays into wireless mixed-reality marvels. They're still developing, and glasses that can unobtrusively show a map of your surroundings and translate languages are inching [...] There are some rarer types of smart glasses as well, like Chamelo's Music Shield and Dusk glasses. They use liquid crystal lenses to provide an adjustable tint, switching from transparent to sunglasses with a tap or through an app. Some AR glasses, like the Viture Luma Pro and the XReal One Pro, use similar technology with less precise control. Their displays make them bulkier and less suitable for casually walking around, though.

Smart glasses are primarily powered by Augmented Reality (AR) technology. This technology integrates digital information with the real world in a hands-free format, accessible via wearable devices like glasses. About 80% of the Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies rely on MarketsandMarkets to identify growth opportunities in emerging technologies and use cases that will have a positive revenue impact. RECENT POST [...] Smart glasses are set to redefine entertainment and lifestyle experiences for consumers. In the retail sector, AR-powered smart glasses can enhance the shopping experience by overlaying digital information onto the physical environment. Customers can explore products interactively, accessing detailed information or even trying on items virtually. This technology has the potential to increase sales and boost customer satisfaction by offering personalized and engaging shopping experiences. [...] 1. Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses: These glasses combine style with functionality, offering photo and video capture capabilities, as well as AI-powered features for social media integration. 2. Amazon Echo Frames: Focused on audio and AI integration, these glasses provide hands-free access to Alexa and feature open-ear audio for music and calls.

The holy grail for smart glasses will be an augmented reality screen that can seamlessly overlay projections onto the real world. Of course this can be done with larger devices like Apple’s Vision Pro and the Meta Quest, but to be able to do this in the slimmed-down format of a normal-ish looking pair of glasses that regular people would consider wearing on a daily basis would be a massive step forward. This, coupled with a significantly improved AI interface, larger battery life, and a [...] Smart glasses are a rapidly growing market as technological advances are beginning to make the form factor viable. Further advances in technology, greater consumer awareness, and new entrants into the market will likely continue this growth into the long run (IDC is currently forecasting 18.7 million units in 2029 compared to 2.7 million units in our most recent full year of data 2024). A little way off the 1.44 billion mobile phones sold worldwide in 2024, but if there is any product [...] We have also seen additional use cases being added, like video streaming—especially with Meta making their glasses easily compatible with their social media platforms, allowing things like live-streaming Instagram Reels from the glasses. Smart glasses have the advantage that they can record first-person videos whilst allowing the person recording to remain in the moment. This was one of the key talking points from Apple when they launched their Vision Pro, but the bulky screen in front of