The Evolution Of Smart Glasses: From Google Glass To AI Eyewear & The Risks To Know
Companies are trying to make smart glasses an aesthetic that happens to have a camera in it.
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People have been trying to design “smart glasses” since the 1980s. Back then, most designs did not look like the smart glasses we see today. They were often bulky, like Steve Mann’s wearable rigs, or looked like AR headsets created for military use. Sometimes they were more of a proof-of-concept product like Vuzix’s AR eyewear, which was marketed as “smart glasses” in the 2000s before Google made the term famous.
Everyone started taking notice of smart glasses when Google Glass came out in 2013. It was a cultural flashpoint for a while. Google Glass debuted at an eyewatering price of $1,500 (approximately RM6,099 now). It was discontinued from consumer sale in 2015 due to privacy issues; its front-facing video recorder had no obvious recording indicator. It lived on as enterprise versions for years.
Then came Snapchat Spectacles in 2016. Snapchat Spectacles was a pair of sunglasses with a built-in camera that recorded short circular videos for Snapchat, and they had a visible ring light that turned on while filming. This invention showed that a camera-on-face product could feel more like a toy than a surveillance device.
In 2018, Bose Frames went the other route. It dropped the cameras and focused on open-ear audio. Around the same time, North Focals took a different approach and built a genuine in-lens display for notifications and directions.
When 2021 rolled around, Meta partnered with Ray-Ban and released Ray-Ban Stories. Ray-Ban Stories has a camera, speakers, and basic controls in a normal-looking Ray-Ban frame. It didn’t contain many AI features, and sales were modest. The collaboration also succeeded in a way Google Glass failed to achieve: making the smart glasses look like glasses.
Meta and Ray-Ban released a second generation of frames in 2023. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 model added a real voice AI assistant, sharper cameras, and livestreaming. It was the first smart glasses product to sell in real volume, selling over 7 million AI glasses in 2025, and gave Meta roughly 82% of global smart glasses shipments.
With this success, they released Meta Ray-Ban Display in September 2025 at $799 (RM3,249). The Ray-Ban Display was the first full-colour waveguide display built into a Ray-Ban frame. Demand was apparently so good that they paused their planned early-2026 international expansion, citing limited inventory due to unprecedented demand.
China entered the race around 2024. Xiaomi’s debut AI glasses became one of the best-selling products in the segment globally for the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, Baidu’s Xiaodu AI Glasses runs on its own Ernie language model, China’s equivalent of GPT and Gemini. Other brands such as Alibaba, Rokid, RayNeo (Thunderbird Innovation), Meizu, and Inmo soon released their own versions of smart eyewear.
By 2026, every other tech giant wants in. Google and Samsung previewed Android XR glasses at I/O 2026, co-designed with Warby Parker for accessible everyday eyewear and Gentle Monster for the fashion end. The eyewear runs on Qualcomm silicon and Google’s Gemini AI. The audio-only glasses are expected to arrive in fall 2026, and a display model will follow later.
In April 2026, Huawei released its own camera-equipped HarmonyOS glasses featuring real-time translation across dozens of languages and hands-free mobile payments by voiceprints. The smart eyewear was priced below Meta’s offering, but is restricted to Huawei’s own phone ecosystem, so it’s only sold in China.
On 16 June 2026, Snapchat released Specs, designed as a standalone AR device retailing at $2,195 in the US (RM8,927). There was a whole celebrity campaign to market the eyewear. The Specs Visionary campaign was photographed by renowned fashion photographer Steven Meisel, and featured ambassadors like supermodel Kaia Gerber, rapper Jack Harlow, singer-songwriter Imogen Heap, model and actress Hoyeon, and NBA star Jimmy Butler.
Meta also released its latest Meta Glasses collection, named Meta Starfire Kylie Jenner AI Glasses, with a starting price of $399 (RM1,623). The slim, oval smart glasses feature an exclusive Meta AI voiced by Jenner herself, built-in open-ear audio, live translation across 20 languages, and a 12MP camera for hands-free recording.
Meanwhile, Chinese brands like Xreal, Viture, and RayNeo are taking a different approach: tethered AR glasses that act like a portable big screen, aimed at travelers and remote workers. As for Apple, it’s targeting to reveal its own smart glasses, codenamed N50, by the end of this year and hitting retail in 2027.
The pitfalls: What to watch out for in tech glasses
Based on what we have seen, tech glasses can be split into two types: smart glasses (eyewear that can record and are usually equipped with AI), like Ray-Ban Meta, and display glasses for those that want an on-demand private screen, like Ray-Ban Display, Xreal, and Viture.
These tech glasses may look cool, but privacy concerns remain an issue, especially those in the smart glass category. The catch-all term “surveillance tech” puts things into perspective. The video recording ability in smartglasses makes it very easy to surveil and stalk others in public without the subjects knowing. It’s essentially a hidden camera rebranded as a cool, lifestyle product.
Although these newer glasses come with recording indicators, people have noted that it’s subtle enough to go unnoticed at a glance. It can also be covered with third-party covers.
Additionally, wearable cameras with AI assistants are just another step away from incorporating facial recognition into the eyewear. A leaked internal memo hinted that Meta has been developing built-in facial recognition for its glasses, internally called “Name Tag.” The company allegedly planned to release this when groups and individuals who were likely to object were busy or distracted with other issues at the moment.
Border Patrol and ICE agents in the US reportedly wore Meta AI smart glasses during field operations in six states, including during deportation-related activity. Lawmakers and privacy advocates there have voiced fears of covert tracking and the unauthorised scanning of US citizens.
There’s also a case where people wearing the glasses, such as Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer, Ray-Ban Display, and Oakley Meta HSTN, recorded private or intimate footage, and these recordings were seen by contractors working for the smart glass company. Workers of a Kenya-based subcontractor called Sama claimed seeing footage of people undressing, using the bathroom, having sex, and even handling credit card numbers. Such footage was allegedly captured unknowingly by users’ glasses.
Although it’s said to be done as part of content moderation, quality control, or AI-training review work, it’s still a huge breach in privacy! It’s no surprise that there’s a lawsuit against Meta for false advertising since the company marketed its smart glasses as ‘’designed for privacy, controlled by you.’’
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