Smart glasses are the future, but who will get there first?

Smart glasses offer the rare opportunity for a computer to be at eye and ear level and be embedded into an accessory a majority of folks already wear. The problem is, much like Private Eye, the very first wearable computer, companies are still struggling to figure out how to make smart glasses look cool while also making them of use to us. In this video, Becca takes a look at the history of smart glasses in order to figure out what might be coming next. #SmartGlasses #Technology
0:00 Smart glasses from 1991 to 2021
2:13 Why the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are important
3:52 Ambient computing + smart glasses
5:17 Smart glasses you can buy now
6:24 Smart glasses to come
Watch our Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses review here: • The Ray-Ban Meta Smart...
Subscribe: goo.gl/G5RXGs
Like The Verge on Facebook: goo.gl/2P1aGc
Follow on Twitter: goo.gl/XTWX61
Follow on Instagram: goo.gl/7ZeLvX
Follow on TikTok: bit.ly/42VeCVU
The Vergecast Podcast: pod.link/430333725
Decoder with Nilay Patel: apple.co/3v29nDc
More about our podcasts: www.theverge.com/podcasts
Read More: www.theverge.com
Community guidelines: bit.ly/2D0hlAv
Wallpapers from The Verge: bit.ly/2xQXYJr
Subscribe to The Vergecast on KZbin, new episodes on Wednesday and Friday: bit.ly/3I6nJtz
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may receive a commission without exerting any influence on editorial content. For more information about our ethics policy, visit: www.theverge.com/ethics-state...

[@TheVerge]

Which company is going to make the smart glasses that we will actually want to wear?

[@mashyu_brand]

Feels like Apple will be that company.

[@undercoverduck]

I hope (but doubt) it'll come out of left field, either a startup or an existing company that has faded somewhat into obscurity. It'd be nice to get a fresh perspective on consumer tech, shake up the playing field, and have the giants scrambling to respond.

[@sbrown7734]

Microsoft would be smart to leverage this with office use using their copilot

[@SamGib]

Any company that opensource its stack for all to audit and take a local first design principle.

[@Nighthunt01]

@@sbrown7734 look into Microsoft's HoloLens 2 specifically: Copilot in Dynamics 365

[@aknetworkedit]

3:18 Wow, the unveiling of the world's first iPotato.

[@KiranUttarkarAwsome]

That was deliberate by Meta.

[@lordwhitesk1n996]

Becca, you’re easily the most natural presenter at The Verge, and this video in particular was fantastic. I love the timeline you presented, leading up to what I agree is the most important question in this area of ‘ambient’ computing; who do we trust?

[@BeccaFarsace]

🥹 tyty, bud

[@Demba_Kane]

Love the fact that The verge is digging down to root concepts in computer science to analyze today innovation, Great host Becca !

[@snoozeshutter]

I think it'll be "the company we distrust the least"

[@__umbra]

Well put.

[@arranpbrown]

The iPotato cracked me up 🤣

[@ikelofe]

Becca's videos are always a joy to watch! I own a pair of Ray-Ban Metas and I'm very much looking forward to what the future holds.

[@GetUrOwnHandle]

Same

[@RadialSeeker113]

Once it's powerful enough and portable enough. Much like initial telephones to the iPhone there'll be an efficiency and tech jump that'll let smartglasses be more viable.

[@shofyansky]

love your video, always spread optimism about future and tech. keep posting

[@NineteenEightyFive]

great video as always! keep it up :)

[@FranciscoAreasGuimaraes]

I am a simple man, I see Becca, I click the video. Great work as always

[@SamJones1337]

What a fantastic video. I feel so much more knowledgeable about the smart glass space. Thank you so much for making this.

[@mattycraw]

Thank you! You are just the best at what you do!🎉

[@Remix26]

great vid, thanks Bud!

[@ilibraci]

When Panos Panay was at Surface he always talked about the products fading into the background

[@zivzulander]

While doing a lot of magician-like hand waving

[@Demba_Kane]

He was a great orator, carrying the surface brand to new heights, such a vision. I'm afraid the surface lineup wont survive such a loss of a character

[@ilibraci]

@@Demba_Kane Exactly. At least he got surface to a great place. It is sad that apparently they won't be innovating as much anymore and I hope that they won't kill anymore products. Panos is a visionary so I am interested to see what he is going to do at Amazon.

[@psychoboogie2]

love your videos, you rock!

[@sneakingelephant]

I remember when I first got the Snapchat spectacles and they felt like a small look into the future. They didn’t really capitalize and expand on that initial idea but it was so fun capturing moments from a first person view and reliving them later on VR goggles. So glad we are finally getting better versions of those ideas nearly a decade later

[@Myoreader]

I agree with everything, but the end. the idea of privacy is not so appealing to consumers. Just look at Google or meta succeeding even though they are the worst in privacy matters. And also we have not been talking about the prices the people are going to pay and I think it is going to be way more than what a smart phone did to people.

[@po1ntu]

great quality content, good job! salary raise!

[@maxhill9254]

thanks

[@mprogano]

Make more of these type videos please! There’s only vergecast videos on my feed now 😢😢

[@alisondosanjos4908]

love the video!

[@etherealradar]

Love this presenter!!❤

[@oo--7714]

The ai is sorta good, honestly it is just impressive considering the chip inside that is way smaller than one in a ai server, and way smaller and weaker than one in an average phone.

[@issiewizzie]

good history lesson

[@Tenchinu]

the potato reading was kinda on point tho. Best description of the One Plus I've ever seen

[@micahjohnson9184]

It's referring to Apple. Also, why the hate on One Plus? One Plus 12 and 12R are by no means potatoes.

[@jsonlee01]

It’s not Thursday but we get a throwback video with Verge alumni making appearances.

[@deephell6456]

Your verdict regarding trust is so true - and therefore it will definitely NOT be Meta.

[@rcdf9]

People dont trust in Mark but we still use instagram, the winner will be the company that will bring more, costing less

[@tenphan0n0]

I see Becca, I click Like

[@desertislanddivs]

I am proud to be Becca’s bud.

[@vince0896]

Becca's videos are just perfect! Becca 2024! Ok ok Nilay can be the VP.

[@J_Shepz]

What about the RayNeo X2?

[@eon5323]

You should look up Metas VR prototypes, theres a bunch of public talks their VR research team. A few years ago they got a whole VR screen/lens stack into like 8mm. Its just a waiting game until they balance passthrough and offboard compute. They use holograms of lenses instead of actual physical lenses. Its bonkers.

[@TheNets]

Ok, I didn't know most of those products. I think I didn't exactly because of privacy. About the conclusion, I don't think the company we trust the most is the one who will win the competition. Who trusts Meta? And they are the number 1 in the VR space.

[@TheRossMcLean]

Becca for president (or at least of the Vergecast)

[@andrebasden]

Your final thought in this video about privacy is probably the most important realization I've seen about AR/VR/XR tech. Also connecting it to privacy by bridging the ideas of these technology with the concept of "ambient computing" is impeccable. Great job with this video.

[@JustaBusta]

Microsoft HoloLens was pretty early to the game, pre ai, not mentioned here

[@sandihermana4873]

Becca please you full review about galaxy s24 ultra

[@Farkeman]

Great video but I can't help but disagree with the last statement. Meta won social media and we clearly don't "trust it the most". Unfortunately people have lost this battle long time ago. 🙄

[@DaleWesley]

Becca drops a video, I watch that video.

[@slickrick411]

So, how did you just barely do this video 6 hours ago and get the beta version?

[@kingofutopia]

Check nimo planet, their form factor and UI looks super good

[@keytronic]

The Wadsworth Constant still true to this day 😂

[@enesjei]

I'm waiting for wearable monitor that isn't as thick as current gen available in the market. While ambient computing is cool and all, i don't think it will be consumer ready in next 3 years.

[@Anders01]

Smartglasses without screens are like an iPod compared to smartphones.

[@martykauffman]

I need to get me that

[@alexbaytenov]

Awesome video (as always with Becca), but IMO horrible (tho fun) thumbnail. Had to guess (being a half a decade Verge sub) that this was Becca and came just for her (and the subject, obviously). Thought the thumbnail was a bit creepy face-wise. But again, loved the vid!

[@Mysaadlife]

Those meta ray bans look the best imo but ironically they’re the company i trust the least to use this tech with.

[@glowing_kitty]

"the company that we will trust the most". More realistic for the majority: "the company that does it the cheapest while providing the best functionality". To me it seems that most people sadly prioritize price over privacy. I mean... otherwise there also wouldn't be so many people buying hardware by Meta... the company behind Facebook and a gigantic amount of privacy violations.

[@domramsey]

Smart and insightful as always from Becca. Although I'm still not convinced I want a computer on my face, or someone else's computer watching me.

[@anurag01a]

Not the company we trust most, but are habituated to it.

[@jamieprocter6653]

Phonetato! The best phone in The US. Sign me up!

[@ghostofcampnou]

Which is?

[@PrajwalDSouzaCrazyTalks]

The goal of camera on faces is training data for robotics. This is the year of vision/action LLMs.

[@ilhwae]

KZbin algorithms got me another channel to sub too.

[@dan_youtube]

And every single one was thought to be the revolutionary step that everyone will adopt

[@helloimedden]

*eventually (that’s mostly the thing people forget to finish this sentence with! Most of the people that said that mentioned it was the future not that it would be mass adopted in that current form” and they were right we are in the future and there is now mass adoption products in this space at multiple price points with various features and specialties.

[@ilkoderez601]

NIFTY!

[@Notinuse664]

U tried xreal

[@user-tx9zg5mz5p]

The vuzix blades are the best looking, so far

[@internetghost-jq6fz]

I think we are at a time where tech makes things more possible, but we’re finding out we’re not like science fiction

[@lizzam]

1990s is that long ago huh?

[@bob_obba]

0:34 1999?

[@nowthatissomethingamazing383]

Apple you're referencing right?

[@PortfolioPL]

The object recognition could be really useful for blind people.

[@zivzulander]

This piece highlights that we're still basically waiting on the hardware technology to catch up to our imaginations for magic spectacles. Getting things to fit into ski goggles form factor is challenging enough, but there won't be a smartphone-like moment until it can all fit into sunglasses frames. What Meta and others are doing is still quite limited and probably more useful for accessibility in the near term than broad adoption. You can see the potential, though, much like how things were coalescing in the 2000s from standalone GPS units, cell phones, PDAs, and mp3 players into this one device we call a smartphone. Good video, Becc and team. 😎

[@EuphoricPentagram]

I think apples gonna be the one to make it a thing, if only cuz of iPhone market share.

[@muhammadfareezrashdan6988]

I want that potato now.😂

[@danielbarakat]

Becca. Do me a favor. Make sure your face is on every verge video thumbnail so I can make sure I click in it. Almost couldn’t tell with this thumbnail

[@innerlocus]

Samsung Blink Contacts.

[@obvinpro]

3:24 But it's true tho. but I'll choose potatoes over iPhone

[@Gigdriver]

Contact lenses please

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

Yeah, sorry, I ain't putting camera or microphone anywhere near me that feeds its data to Meta. Or Amazon. Or Google. I'm hesitant about Apple, but they seem the least "sell all your data to anyone who will pay for it" of the big tech firms.

[@helloimedden]

Apple’s also the only one whose business model is not funded by data or sales of data or ad targeting. Yes they have a small ad sales platform for App Store search page but they argue it’s more to help small developers get discovered and they do not sell of store the data linked to you, they anonymize it and then they encrypt it and keep that to themselves. They don’t even offer very good info on ad reach and clicks and stuff back to devs that buy ads.

[@Glizzybeth]

literally no one thinks that but ok

[@wplantz]

I will take one Potato Phone Pro Max please!

[@CarsMeetsBikes]

(Apple)

[@bulelanibotman]

meta is leading this pack but because of clout & "security reasons" apple will always win because of the largest us following base it has even though they're are far behind

[@vikaspatta7640]

what are you talking about? Iron man did long time ago.

[@Tylerswinning]

It’ll take off when Apple gets into this space

[@sharpvidtube]

Not if they do something stupid, like the vision pro.

[@ilkoderez601]

...AND you can't immediately make out a camera so you don't get assaulted at McDonalds...

[@BallCant]

Technology for children.

[@oposkainaxei]

What‘s the case with americans wearing hats in closed rooms?😂

[@pea1973]

Trust Meta or Google?! Loooooooooooooooooooooooool

[@devin_leary]

It's Apple... it's 100% Apple

[@peanutpretz]

second comment

[@BeardsBaconTech]

Does anybody have a pair of Google glass that they don’t use that they could let me borrow and try out I’ve been wanting to try a pair so badly I can’t find them anymore because they’re not selling them anymore. I really want to try them out badly I’m willing to send them back, if you’re willing to send me a pair

[@nikhilpradeep8170]

Yea but that would be 2000£

[@BeardsBaconTech]

@@nikhilpradeep8170 I don’t need it to have. I just need it to try out once in my life.

[@MetaVIRTUAL]

Yes there great

[@onemorechris]

remember how bad facebook was? imagine that, on your face. yea, no. the only company that’s trustable on this list is Apple.

[@jsnam8139]

Casey Neistat's secret daughter?

[@peterpark2077]

😂😂you are funny

[@webounce]

please don't film yourself this close to the camera it looks just off

[@Samariapain]

Potato potato potato Chips and paring

[@Samariapain]

It could of been the rayban dry line

[@Samariapain]

Like when you ask Siri to ring your girlfriend and she asks which one

[@siddy2068]

First

[@onemorechris]

Both Google Glass and HoloLens were bad devices. Both felt very much unusable and needed several versions before coming close to a v1 fit for a member of the public to wear. Both felt very unfinished. it was very disappointing to try them. i can’t wait for a good company to nail this. when i say good; i mean not microsoft’s terrible design and not the nightmare factory from Meta.

[@internetghost-jq6fz]

Not the future

[@RasenRambo23]

Such a bad take in the end. Privacy is a tech reviewer obsession that average consumers just don't care about.