LAS VEGAS — The next big computing platform could be right in front of your face — or on it. Exhibitors and experts at the CES 2025 tech trade show believe smart glasses, such as Ray-Ban Meta eyewear, are just getting rolling.
Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, a joint venture of Facebook parent Meta Platforms and fashion eyeglass maker EssilorLuxottica, have been an early hit product in the category.
Smart glasses could be the defining consumer product of the burgeoning artificial intelligence age, Brian Comiskey, senior director of innovation and trends at the Consumer Technology Association, told Investor's Business Daily at CES 2025. The association produces the annual tech conference.
He compared smart glasses to the smartphone around 2008 at the start of the mobile computing era.
"I think smart glasses have massive potential," Comiskey said.
They are fashionable, wearable technology that can offer audio enhancement, voice-based audio assistance, real-time language translation and more, he said.
Even Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang called out smart glasses in his opening keynote at CES 2025 on Monday.
"Very soon we're going to have a continuous AI that's going to be with you," Huang said. "When you use those Meta glasses, you can point at something, look at something, and ask it for whatever information you want."
Will Apple Make Smart Glasses?
Ray-Ban Meta glasses have tiny forward-facing cameras built into the frames, in addition to audio sensors and tiny ear speakers.
Research firm IDC predicted that shipments of smart glasses would rise 73% to 1.8 million units in 2024. It forecast shipments hitting 2.3 million units in 2028 for a compound annual growth rate of 7.6%.
Even Apple is rumored to be working on smart glasses, according to media reports.
In September, Meta and EssilorLuxottica announced a new long-term agreement to develop "multigenerational smart eyewear products."
EssilorLuxottica is betting that smart glasses will someday replace smartphones.
"We believe it is the future," Fabrizio Uguzzoni, president of professional solutions for EssilorLuxottica Americas, told IBD. "It's a very exciting time."
He said the company has sold "a lot" of Ray-Ban Meta glasses but declined to give a number. He noted that its second-generation smart glasses, which launched in October 2023, were supply constrained in mid-2024.
Reasons For Buying Ray-Ban Meta Specs
Ray-Ban Meta owners have different reasons for buying the smart glasses, Uguzzoni said.
Some people like answering phone calls without having to take out their handset or put in earbuds. Others like the built-in cameras and ability to do live video streaming on Instagram.
the addition of artificial intelligence features is likely to drive further growth, he said.
Ray-Ban Meta glasses use Meta's generative AI to answer spoken questions, including identifying objects seen through the camera lenses.
More AI Features Are Coming
And the two companies are adding more AI features through nearly monthly software updates, Uguzzoni said. One such feature coming very soon is live translation on its smart glasses, he said.
"So, you talk to me in English and I talk to you in Italian and they're going to translate to me your English into Italian and I give you my phone and it will translate on the phone in writing my Italian into English," Uguzzoni said. "I've tried it and it's insanely good."
At some point, Ray-Ban Meta glasses are likely to get a small text display screen for language translation, navigation and other apps, he said.
Meanwhile, EssilorLuxottica plans to expand its lineup of smart glasses to its other stylish brands, such as Oakley sports glasses, he said.
EssilorLuxottica brands include Ray-Ban, Oakley, Supreme and more. It also has licensing deals with major European fashion design houses.
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