Smart Glasses: Popularity, Functions and Challenges

1. What are smart glasses?

Compared to traditional glasses, AI glasses are equipped with additional electronic components such as cameras, microphones, storage, and SoC, enabling basic functions like voice interaction and photography. Classified by the complexity of hardware from low to high, they can be divided into audio glasses, camera glasses, AI glasses, and AR glasses:

Basic Glasses: Visual Requirement

Used for myopia prevention and control, presbyopia and other visual effects. Meanwhile, the design also reflects users' personalized decorative needs, playing a certain aesthetic role.

Audio Glasses: +Audio Requirement

Provide audio functions such as listening to music, novels, and calls, equipped with an independent operating system and integrated with large models, enabling functions like meeting minutes and navigation.

Camera Glasses: +Photography Requirement

Combined with photography capabilities, it can realize quick snapshot, first-person perspective recording, short video shooting and other functions.

AI Glasses: +AI Requirement

Provide intelligent interaction for glasses, equipped with cameras, supporting voice interaction, image recognition, text extraction, and other functions.

AR Glasses: +Display Requirement

Combined with display capabilities, it can provide large-scale display, meeting basic video and application interaction needs. AI large models can realize real-time information output through AR display, achieving combination of virtuality and reality.

2. How Did AI glasses Become Popular?

First, the entry of industry giants has created a demonstration effect. In 2024, the second generation of smart glasses, jointly launched by Ray-Ban and Meta, achieved global sales exceeding one million units. This represents a significant increase compared to the previous generation, Ray-Ban Stories, which sold only 300,000 units within 16 months. The significant brand influence and extensive distribution networks of these tech giants have elevated AI glasses from a niche tech product to a mainstream item. In China, tech giants such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and ByteDance have been steadily increasing their investment in this sector. Meanwhile, small- to medium-sized tech companies, such as INMO Technology, have launched their own products. Traditional eyewear companies, such as LOHO Glasses, have entered the market as channel partners. The participation of numerous companies has continuously boosted the popularity of the entire industry.

Secondly, technological advancements in AI models have driven upgrades in product functions. One reason for the popularity of Meta Ray-Ban glasses is its integration with Llama3 large model—the performance of AI models directly determines the user experience of AI glasses. In 2025, Deepseek - R1's excellent performance after distillation, along with its open-source availability, provides favorable conditions for the development of consumer electronics, significantly improving the human-computer interaction experience. Unlike the previous interaction methods via keyboard and mouse, users can now operate glasses conveniently through voice and gestures to realize functions such as object recognition, real-time translation, and navigation.

3. What Functions Persuade Consumers to Purchase?

Convenient Recording: Capturing Life's Moments

Equipped with a camera, AI glasses can take photos and videos from a first-person perspective conveniently, recording wonderful moments in life— a feature that is highly attractive to people who love documenting their lives. Compared with traditional cameras or smartphones, AI glasses allow faster shooting without the need to retrieve a separate device, ensuring no fleeting beautiful moments are missed.

Efficient Voice Interaction: Hands-Free Operation

In situations where users' hands are occupied, voice commands enable AI glasses to perform various tasks, such as retrieving information, setting reminders, and making phone calls. For instance, while driving, users can avoid distractions from operating their mobile phones by simply stating their destination to the AI glasses, receiving accurate navigation guidance in return. During exercise and fitness, users can also control music playback and obtain movement guidance through voice.

Personalized intelligent assistant

With the support of large AI models, AI glasses can serve as users' personalized intelligent assistants, providing customized services. For example, based on a user's daily news consumption and video viewing habits, relevant information can be intelligently pushed. They can also remind users of important matters intelligently according to their schedules and give reasonable travel recommendations. Such personalized services make users feel that AI glasses are like their exclusive assistants, greatly enhancing user engagement.

4. What Challenges Does the Industry Face?

Short Battery Life, Unable to Meet All-Day Use Needs

The lightweight design of AI glasses limits battery capacity, while the various integrated functions consume a lot of power. Consequently, users must charge the devices frequently, creating inconvenience. Currently, most products on the market are far from meeting users' all-day use needs under normal usage conditions.

Suboptimal Wearing Comfort

The addition of numerous electronic components in some AI glasses leads to a heavier overall weight, potentially causing considerable pressure on the nasal bridge and ears during prolonged use. Furthermore, a frame design that does not conform to ergonomic principles can also cause user discomfort, negatively impacting the overall user experience.

Functional Stability and Interaction Fluency Require Improvement

During use, AI glasses may encounter problems such as inaccurate voice recognition, image transmission lag, and app crashes, which seriously degrade the user experience. For example, in noisy environments, the voice recognition function of AI glasses may fail to understand users' commands accurately. During video recording, frame stuttering may occur due to unstable network signals or device performance limitations. These problems need further optimization and resolution.

Conclusion

Despite the numerous challenges currently faced by the smart glasses industry, these issues are expected to be resolved through continuous technological progress and gradual market maturity. From an investment perspective, the smart glasses sector is currently transitioning from thematic investment to industrial trend investment. As industry leaders like Xiaomi, Samsung, ByteDance, and Huawei launch related products, the industry may enter a period of intense competition. We anticipate that smart glasses will emerge as the next investment opportunity with significant potential.