Smart glasses are the latest in AR technology, with the smart glasses market being worth $374m in 2019, and revenues expected to pass $1bn in 2024 and reach $2.3bn by 2030. Despite limited adoption to date, the intensifying competition highlights a widespread belief that the market has significant growth potential. Multi-functional smart glasses are still costly and range from about £2,000 to £10,000, but you might find larger or less sophisticated devices for less. Smart glasses technology is developing quickly, and so increasing sophistication can be expected in the coming years.
Technology trends
AR smart glasses
From first-person imaging to enhanced travel directions, facial recognition, and health monitoring, AR is driving smart glasses’ penetration into multiple areas of the internet-connected society, on both a personal and commercial level. Google, Seiko Epson, Toshiba, and Vuzix are leading vendors of business-grade AR smart glasses.
On the consumer side, today’s AR smart glasses come with basic functions, such as smartphone notifications, email access, and weather updates in the users’ field of view (FOV). Google’s acquisition of North in June 2020 signalled its return to the consumer smart glasses space, while Apple and Facebook are both reportedly planning to launch AR smart glasses in the next one to two years.
Micro displays
AR smart glasses technology uses partially transparent displays that can overlay virtual objects onto the users’ field of view. Leading display makers like Kopin, Himax, Lumus, OmniVision, and Sony are all developing microdisplays that combine high pixel density and brightness with low power consumption while also striving to minimise the weight and cost of displays. Smaller players like Micledi, WaveOptics, and Plessey are also emerging in the market.
Audio smart glasses
Audio smart glasses, developed by companies such as Bose, Huawei, and Amazon, are primarily headphone-integrated eyewear with no heads-up display. These devices are relatively cheap to make and come without many of the privacy concerns inherent in AR smart glasses.
Smart assistants, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, make the devices smarter by enabling two-way voice communication. However, audio smart glasses have not proven as popular as anticipated, and so audio variants are expected to continue to underperform their AR equivalent, as the latter offers both audio and interactive visual services.
Conversational platforms
Conversational platforms including Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant are becoming standard inclusions on smart glasses for hands-free operability. The Google Assistant is the most prominent conversational platform in the market, while Amazon is making big pushes with Alexa. Alongside the Alexa-powered Echo Frames, Alexa support is also available on smart glasses from Vuzix and North.
Meanwhile, Apple’s Siri has a nominal presence in the smart glasses space, mostly on devices compatible with its iOS operating system. Apple is working on its own smart glasses, which will incorporate Siri, but is unlikely to appear on devices made by other companies.
Custom silicon
The smartphone ecosystem has played a critical role in the evolution of AR smart glasses, but the next wave of innovation is being driven by custom silicon. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 chip, launched in October 2018, was the industry’s first AR-specific processor, offering improved battery support, lower temperatures, and an impressive audio-video experience.
Google’s adoption of the XR1 for the Glass Enterprise Edition 2 was driven partially by the power of the chipset, which incorporated computer vision and machine learning capabilities. Qualcomm is now testing the new XR2 platform, which promises 5G and edge computing capabilities, 3D audio, and 3K resolution for each eye.
Facebook and Apple are also developing custom chips for their upcoming AR smart glasses.
5G
5G promises to address the existing data processing and transmission issues associated with 4G networks, and smart glasses vendors are working on 5G-based edge computing solutions to bring seamless AR experiences to their devices.
5G technologies should help smart glasses designers reduce their focus on storage capacity and processing power. 5G chipsets will also drive further miniaturisation of components and devices, allowing vendors to bundle more sensors into their devices, making them more versatile.
5G’s connectivity should also help smart glasses become interoperable with industrial equipment such as drones and medical devices over the next few years.
Edge computing
Given the limited storage and processing capabilities within smart glasses, they rely on smartphone-based companion apps storing user data on cloud servers. Analysing the server-stored data enables vendors to improve their services, content, and advertising, while cloud servers facilitate access to AR content on smart glasses. Owing to the cybersecurity concerns and latency issues, some vendors are exploring edge computing solutions.
Cybersecurity
Smart glasses are internet-connected devices and, therefore, represent a potential threat to privacy for both the wearer and those around them. Hackers could exploit smart glasses with embedded cameras to gather personal information such as passwords, PIN codes, emails, and text messages, leading to privacy infringements in public places.
Audio smart glasses are also not risk-free as advertisers could gather user data to target ads, while vendors and their third-party affiliates can eavesdrop on the wearer’s conversations.
In order to mitigate the privacy issues and minimise exploitation of user data, regulators in Europe and the US are compelling vendors to adopt privacy by design principles during product development and privacy as a service over the lifecycle of products.
Examples of smart glasses product
The Vuzix M300 smart glasses contain Android-based onboard computers and can wirelessly pair to any device via Bluetooth, including iPhones, Android phones, and cochlear implants. The smart glasses themselves feature a small built-in screen, fast processing system, and multiple mounting options and frames to provide custom focal lengths. These smart glasses are used in retail and engineering industries, without any specialist software adaptation.
Cyber Eyez is an assistive tech smart glasses app for blind and partially sighted people that works on devices like the Vuzix M300. There are features to suit various activities from reading and shopping to video calling and accessing the Amazon Alexa assistant on the go. Cyber Eyez integrates with Android apps to identify objects, currency, scan product barcodes, and also includes calendar functionality.