Mixed reality is already a hot niche, but if a leaked roadmap from Meta is any indication, it's about to get even hotter.
According to a memo unearthed by Business Insider, Meta's Andrew Bosworth ("Boz" as he's known) says that there are lots of AI gadgets in store for the year ahead.
"Next year is going to be the most critical year in my eight years at Reality Labs. We have the best portfolio of products we've ever had in the market and are pushing our advantage by launching half a dozen more AI-powered wearables," said Bosworth in a memo according to Business Insider.
"AI-powered wearables," as we've learned over the past year, can mean a lot of things, but if there's one category I'm almost certain Meta has its eye fixed on, it's smart glasses.
A big year for mixed reality
It's no secret that Meta is big on mixed reality. It's poured billions into carving out a niche for its Quest headsets, creating a whole new category and ditching the likes of Apple and Samsung in its wake.
But just because headsets have been a magnet for R&D dollars doesn't mean they're the only device on the menu. Increasingly, smart glasses are becoming a category in their own right.
Meta's Mark Zuckerberg revealed last week that the company sold 1 million units of its Meta Ray-Ban glasses last year, which isn't too shabby for a product category that's still technically finding its footing.
While Bosworth doesn't cite smart glasses specifically in the leaked memo, it wouldn't be too much of a leap to assume that the category will be a major part of its vision of an AI wearable — especially since the addition of Meta AI to the glasses late last year.
What its potential plans for smart glasses will look like is anyone's guess, but there's already some evidence that they could make Meta's Ray-Bans a lot more sophisticated.
According to a Financial Times report from December, Meta has plans to add a display to its glasses, which would be a significant step toward making a pair of smart glasses that feels smart.
As I've written previously, I'm a big fan of Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, which are surprisingly useful for taking calls, navigation, audio playback, and taking pictures, but there's still always a minor disappointment when I tell people they lack a display.
Adding one might finally convince potential buyers who are on the fence but waiting for the smart glasses to feel truly smart.
And the most exciting part of all this is that with six new AI wearables in the works, Ray-Ban glasses might not be the only thing to get excited over. It's hard to say where else Meta will expand its ambitions, but I personally wouldn't mind seeing a device similar to what Xreal offers, which is to say a lightweight pair of AR glasses that doubles as a big virtual screen.
Yes, the Quest already does this, but bringing that ability to a form factor with a much lower footprint — that is to say, not a headset that covers your face — is a lot more convenient.
Which brings me to my next point...
A race to the AR future
As important as headsets are to the current crop of Meta hardware, it's clear that strapping a computer to your face is not the ultimate goal.
If that wasn't clear enough already, Meta hammered that home this past October in its annual Connect conference by revealing its vision for our mixed reality future: Project Orion.
In case you missed it, Project Orion is a novel, if still experimental, pair of holographic AR glasses, that combine the ability of a Quest into a form factor that's only a bit bigger than a pair of normal glasses.
For lots of reasons — miniaturization of components for one — that reality is a ways off still, but at the end of the day, that's what mixed reality titans like Meta are working toward.
Perhaps the most exciting part of Meta's push into mixed reality, or AI wearables as Bosworth put it, is that with enough investment and ingenuity, Meta stands to crack smart glasses wide open.
And if rumors are true, it's not the only company that is devoting resources to trying. Samsung is rumored to be developing its own pair of smart glasses which could be released this year and Apple has been trying its hand as well.
The latter of the two companies, however, is reportedly shelving its plans for smart glasses for unknown reasons — tepid response to the Vision Pro and cost could be two major reasons.
So, that leaves Meta and maybe Samsung in the game, and only one of those companies actually has a product you can buy right now. It's obviously too early to say how Meta's plans to ship more AI wearables will go in 2025, but if there's one tech company with enough interest and funds to make it work, my money is on Meta.
Here's to hoping that Bosworth puts Meta's money where its mouth is and finally cracks the code to the future-leaning smart glasses we deserve.
