In The Foreseeble Future, Smart Glasses 'Will Be The Next Major Computing Platform'

Mark Zuckerberg
CEO and founder of Meta Platforms, Inc.

Smart glasses are emerging as a significant milestone in the evolution of wearable technology, showcasing how they can completely reshape potential to completely reshape human-computer interaction.

With augmented reality (AR) at the forefront, these smart glasses combine innovation with practicality, offering a glimpse into the future of immersive digital experiences. As the line between the physical and digital world continues to blur, Meta, the tech titan that has also become a manufacturer of consume devices, is set to enhance its hardware to enhance both everyday tasks and the way people engage with computers and the world around them.

With a variety of sensors and advanced hardware, smart glasses can provide personalized recommendations, anticipate user needs, and deliver a more intuitive experience.

And thanks to AI that is integrated into these wearables, smart glasses are becoming smarter, more intuitive, and incredibly personalized.

In all, the enhancements to their functionality are making smart glasses a valuable tool for productivity, entertainment, and daily convenience.

Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg presents Orion AR glasses at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, in 2024.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, he believes that smart glasses will be the "next big thing" in computer technology:

"Glasses will be the next major computing platform."

He said this in a reply on Threads, to a user who said that "more and more of my friends have bought (or plan to buy) either the Meta Quest, the Ray-Ban Meta, or both—and they all love them. I think that’s a good sign. $MET."

Mark did not detail this opinion or give any assurance behind his thoughts and claims, but the billionaire who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, has led the development of virtual reality headsets.

While Meta's metaverse concept and its Horizon Worlds was kind of a flop concept, and the company was forced to lay off thousands of talented individuals in the aftermath of that gamble, its smart glasses initiative has more than what it seems.

Whereas VR headsets are heavy and far from reliable and usable for many real-life use cases.

From object recognition to real-time translation between different languages, for example, allow Meta's smart glasses to redefine wearables.

Read: Mark Zuckerberg Introduces 'Orion' Holographic AR Glasses: A Meta iPhone Moment

Smart glasses, which refer to glasses with built-in computing capacity, come with AI and various sensors, are indeed a major computing platform to begin with.

But the wearable has had a turbulent journey, with Google’s 2013 launch of Glass standing out as one of the most criticized attempts in wearable tech.

Meta however, has found success in turning wearable technology into a trend.

Meta’s smart glasses are not only more functional but also more stylish. By partnering with Ray-Ban, Meta has created a product that blends fashion with technology, making the glasses more appealing to everyday users.

While these augmented-reality glasses aren't designed to replace smartphones, they serve as complementary devices. Despite their innovative features, wearing smart glasses all day isn’t practical for most people, limiting their usage to specific moments rather than continuous wear.

With future generations planned to offer built-in screens for on-screen alerts instead of just audio, which in turn would allow users to use apps on screen, like for navigation purposes, only the advancement of tech can decide what comes next.

And as the technologies behind the devices continue to evolve, these wearables could be the key to unlocking a new era of interconnected, seamless experiences that redefine how we live, work, and play.