Remember Google Glass and the glassholes? People relentlessly mocked anyone wearing those $1,500 smart glasses, arguably leading to skittishness about wearable technology, particularly anything related to artificial intelligence tools and assistants. But all that's about to change. Meta made it clear that there is a much brighter future for AI wearables this week at Meta Connect 2024 , bright enough that one of the wearables comes in the form of sunglasses.
The company showcased two different types of smart glasses at the event: an upgraded version of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and a preview of Orion, smart glasses that employ augmented reality along with AI. There have been plenty of other wearables since Google Glass flamed out, but, except for smartwatches, most have either sputtered out or survived only in certain niche roles like Snap's Spectacles. Even the recent surge in generative AI software hasn't really cracked the code.
Hardware like the Humane AI Pin , the Rabbit R1 , and the Plaud.ai NotePin all had a lot of hype around them, but have largely faded from the conversation after the reality didn't match the promise. Both Orion and the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses address the biggest problems plaguing those AI wearables, as well as Google Glass, but in different ways.
The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are all about fashion and comfort, with the tech designed for subtlety and a non-intrusive AI assistant. They look miles better than Google Glass, which looked like it .