Talk about a pivot. After focusing so much on headsets over the last few years, many companies including Apple are now turning their attention to smart glasses; basically a way of seeing the world and receiving contextual information, all supported by AI. This has been a race that Snap has been in for many years, and one that Meta has pioneered via a partnership with EssilorLuxottica. The rise of smart glasses is particularly interesting because it is, effectively, a race to own your face, with the potential to become a new product category that complements the phone.

So what's the potential here? How can companies do so well? Let’s take a look — and if immersive technologies interest you, consider subscribing to the Immersive Wire to stay the smartest person in the room.

First of all, this is moving on from a niche curiosity to what I would argue is a genuine pivot point in 2026, with an expanded version of this playing out in 2027. There are many reports on the exact size of the smart glasses market which vary, and in complete honesty, I don't trust all the statistics out there. Figures range from $14bn to $29bn depending on the source and timeframe, but as it is a relatively new market, treat the stats with caution.

But in any case, when it comes to market leadership, it is Meta in partnership with EssilorLuxottica that leads. Meta is investing heavily within its Reality Labs division, and a lot of that is going toward smart glasses enabled by its broader investments in AI. EssilorLuxottica sold over 7mn AI glasses in 2025, up from the 2mn sold in 2023 and 2024 combined. Shares surged on the back of this, with the company stating: "Our success in wearables is helping to propel the AI-glasses revolution, with our iconic brands being a powerful driver of demand." Demand in the US in particular has been described as unprecedented, partly driven by an accessible price point, with base models starting at $299 for clear lenses or $329 for polarised. Overall, these glasses work well both for filming and for contextual AI queries, which consumers are having a lot of fun with.

Snap has been a challenger for a long time, with incredibly ambitious goals. The company has also shipped several generations of hardware, and boasts over 400,000 developers who have built more than 4mn AR Lenses for the platform. (Worth noting that these developers build for Snap's broader AR tools, not exclusively for the glasses, spanning experiences like cooking guidance, sign translation, and more).

One ongoing critique is that the current Spectacles hardware cannot yet be slimmed down to an ordinary glasses form factor. That said, it doesn't stop Snap Spectacles from being technically impressive, and Snap's depth of expertise in AR is something other companies are still catching up with. Its consumer-facing Specs are set for a 2026 launch, running Snap OS 2.0 with deep integrations with OpenAI and Gemini.

Speaking of catching up, Google, Apple, and Samsung are all moving into this space. Google and Samsung have partnered to release a headset running Android XR, while Google is separately developing smart glasses with partners including Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Apple, meanwhile, is rumoured to be targeting a late-2026 launch for its own smart glasses, though knowing Apple, they may well wait for others to release first and then refine the category on their own terms (purely speculation). What's notable is that Apple's approach reportedly avoids photo and video recording due to privacy concerns, a meaningful differentiator from Meta.

But there is a deeper question away from this; will glasses even be useful in the long-term? Will it ever actually be useful for the people passing by on the street, ordering a cheeky Starbucks? After all, phones work exceptionally well for conversations, email, and research, and the finger as input method is hard to beat.

That said, the one area where glasses may genuinely have an edge is voice. A hands-free, voice-and-AI-driven interface could be a compelling input method for the glasses of the future. Imagine asking for research on the fly, or asking it the full history of what’s in front of you? Imagine receiving a full historical breakdown of the Taj Mahal as you stand in front of its stones?

Whether glasses clash with or complement phones remains to be seen, but with the number of people wearing glasses increasing globally, the addressable market is not a small one.

If you're interested in learning more about immersive technologies, please consider subscribing to the Immersive Wire and remain the smartest person in the room with weekly insights.