The connected economy will someday have glasses. Smart glasses. Nine years after Google’s misfire with the product, smart glasses are making a return in a big way — as some very big names are getting behind them.
The most anticipated development in the emerging world of connected glasses is Apple’s project, which according to reports has recently entered into its second phase of development. Little in the way of hard details are known about the project, but according to reports the glasses have been conceived as an augmented reality accessory. According to reports, the glasses will be lightweight and designed to overlay information such as text messages and maps in front of the wearer’s eyes, while users will be able to control the glasses with Siri.
They are also, according to most recent reports, still several years away from the market. Upon completing its second phase of development — mostly focused on battery design and upgrades — the project moves to the third development phase to complete a working prototype. Once that is in hand, the project then goes through a minimum 6- to 9-month period for engineering verification. All in all, according to Apple, the much-anticipated wearable, while actively under construction at present, will not be on the market until 2023 at the absolute earliest.
And with a three-year minimum delay, Apple might just find the market a bit more crowded when it finally arrives.
Facebook Soon To Release Smart Glasses
Facebook, for example, has recently announced that its smart glasses projects are anticipated for “sooner rather than later” release in 2021.
“Augmented and virtual reality are about delivering a sense of presence — the feeling that you’re right there with another person or in another place,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted in his annual new year blog post. “Instead of having devices that take us away from the people around us, the next platform will help us be more present with each other and will help the technology get out of the way.”
Facebook Hardware Chief Andrew Bosworth notes that Facebook is not calling its soon to be released wearable “AR glasses,” as that functionality is not fully available as of yet, though they will be connected glasses. “We’re excited about it, but we don’t want to over-hype it. We’re not even calling it augmented reality; we’re just calling it ‘smart glasses.’” Bosworth said.
Some have noted that that the lack of full AR functionality falls a bit short of Facebook’s initial hopes for its foray into wearable glasses — though some experts have speculated that Facebook is being conservative in its initial announcement and that there could be more functionalities built in when the glasses are officially announced.
But while big names are moving slowly, notably, the startup scene in the glasses wearable world is incredibly active of late, and perhaps putting pressure on the larger players.
The Glasses Wearables Startup Rodeo
While Facebook and Apple are circling the market, they are following startups currently scrambling to gain a foothold in the market. In November, GlassesUSA.com revealed its new Revel Tune Smart Audio Glasses — designed as connected by Bluetooth to smartphones so users can listen to music and take phone calls, similar in design to the Lucid Lyte design entering the market at present.
And while most of the players entering in the market today are still Bluetooth-tethered and don’t contain imagery as a feature, Snap spectacles, by Snapchat, have been in the market for over a year at this point — and by description Facebook is rolling out a rather similar design when its smart glasses hit the market sometime this year. The Snap glasses, according to reports, have run into technological and production roadblocks. Whether Facebook has suffered the same problems, and has a better mechanism to overcome them, remains to be seen.
But connected glasses seems to be a connected economy development that’s here to stay — though by all accounts we may still be a few years away from seeing them reach their mass market potential.
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