Smart Glasses Struggle to Gain Ground Amidst Privacy Concerns

The Illusion of Innovation

Smart glasses are again generating buzz, yet their actual adoption remains limited. Marketing campaigns promote these devices, but consumers are hesitant to embrace them fully. The “glasshole” effect continues to haunt the market, even with the promise of artificial intelligence.

Meta claims to have sold millions of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses since 2023, but this contrasts with the broader market’s slow growth. Despite the hype and the addition of companies like Snap, the global market only reached a few million units in 2024. Market analysts predict a potential rise, but the numbers remain small compared to the massive smartphone market.

“The real challenge is still convinced by the majority that another device needs to put on the face.”

—Source Article

The Technical Hurdles

The majority of consumer smart glasses today rely on smartphones. Without a paired smartphone and its corresponding app, these glasses become non-functional. For instance, Snap Spectacles require Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct, plus a recent version of the Snapchat app to transfer video. The initial version of Google Glass was also heavily dependent on a phone connection.

This reliance stems from technological limitations: the battery life and size constraints. These limitations necessitate outsourcing connectivity, storage, and cellular network connections to the already existing phone. The phone provides the modem, data source, and sometimes even functions as a coprocessor to lighten the load on the glasses’ processing unit.

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Data Collection and Privacy Risks

The ambition to gather user data is a key aspect of these devices. A recent update from Meta enables the “Hey Meta” feature by default. This feature sends photos, videos, and voice commands to train artificial intelligence models and eliminates the possibility of disabling the storage of recordings. This means the glasses continually record everything.

The outcome is a device capable of filming, pinpointing locations, and identifying faces without the users’ full awareness. This has sparked debate about privacy. The French Cnil and other European authorities are warning about the devices’ non-compliance with GDPR, particularly because informing and obtaining consent is the responsibility of the end-user, not the manufacturer.

The Future of Smart Glasses

This ethical conflict might prevent the category from thriving. If real-time translation requires accepting that a multinational company records your every word, some people might think the exchange is too costly. Based on a 2024 survey, only 25% of people say they would consider buying smart glasses due to privacy concerns, even if the technology was flawless (Statista).

Rather than an evolutionary step, smart glasses appear to be another industry attempt to make pervasive surveillance normal. Perhaps the crucial question isn’t whether the technology is ready, but whether people are ready to trade their privacy for artificial intelligence magic that may or may not be worth it.