{"id":39232,"date":"2025-10-19T17:12:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=39232"},"modified":"2025-10-19T17:12:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:12:58","slug":"272999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/10\/19\/272999\/","title":{"rendered":"Why smart glasses keep failing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>After a series<\/strong> of sputtering starts, it finally looks like all the puzzle pieces are falling into place for the rise of smart glasses as the next great consumer technology.<\/p>\n<p>All the puzzle pieces, that is, except one, and that one could stay forever lost.<\/p>\n<p>Dramatic progress has been made in important technologies that make smart glasses a usable, and even attractive, proposition.<\/p>\n<p>The term \u201csmart glasses\u201d is a little vague, so let\u2019s be clear. We\u2019re <em>not<\/em> talking about virtual reality headsets. We\u2019re <em>not<\/em> talking about glasses with electronically controlled adaptive lenses or filters, either. We\u2019re talking about wearable computers in the form of \u2013 and not much bulkier than \u2013 an ordinary pair of spectacles or shades.<\/p>\n<p>To qualify, it must:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have the ability to place visual information in front of at least one of the user\u2019s eyes;<\/li>\n<li>Feature at least one camera for photos, videos or computer vision;<\/li>\n<li>Have the ability to respond to voice commands or physical gestures or both; and<\/li>\n<li>Be networked, either to a nearby smartphone or directly to Wi-Fi or cellular services, and preferably both.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It might optionally:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Produce sound audible only by the wearer;<\/li>\n<li>Have its display capability extend to creating an augmented-reality overlay;<\/li>\n<li>Include any number of other sensors, transmitters and receivers; and<\/li>\n<li>Run any number of potentially useful applications, many of which would otherwise run on a smartwatch, smart wristband or a smartphone, or might only be possible on smart glasses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If science-fiction is invention, as Hugo Gernsback (after whom the genre\u2019s Hugo Awards are named) maintained, then the inventor of augmented reality glasses is L Frank Baum.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: right;\">Read: How 3D wowed the world, then flopped again and again<\/h3>\n<p>More famous as the author of <em>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em>, Baum in 1901 wrote <em>The Master Key<\/em>, with the unwieldy (and outmoded) subtitle, <em>An Electrical Fairy Tale Founded Upon the Mysteries of Electricity and the Optimism of Its Devotees. It was Written for Boys, But Others May Read It<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In it, he envisions a pair of spectacles he called a \u201cCharacter Marker\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u2026article continues below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273014\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273014\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273014\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C950&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The cover of The Master Key: An Electrical Fairy Tale, by L Frank Baum, in which he describes what we might call augmented reality glasses. (Cover illustration by FY Cory; published by Bowen-Merrill Company, 1901)\" width=\"640\" height=\"950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Master-Key-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Master-Key-690x1024.jpg 690w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Master-Key-768x1140.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Master-Key-1035x1536.jpg 1035w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Master-Key-150x223.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Master-Key-450x668.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273014\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cover of The Master Key: An Electrical Fairy Tale, by L Frank Baum, in which he describes what we might call augmented reality glasses. (Cover illustration by FY Cory; published by Bowen-Merrill Company, 1901)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhile you wear them,\u201d Baum wrote, \u201ceveryone you meet will be marked upon the forehead with a letter indicating his or her character. The good will bear the letter \u2018G\u2019, the evil the letter \u2018E\u2019. The wise will be marked with a \u2018W\u2019 and the foolish with an \u2018F\u2019. The kind will show a \u2018K\u2019 upon their foreheads and the cruel a letter \u2018C\u2019. Thus you may determine by a single look the true natures of all those you encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Real-world head-mounted display systems date back to at least 1960. Gernsback himself demonstrated a prototype of a stereoscopic, head-mounted display based on dual cathode-ray tubes to <em>Life<\/em> magazine in 1963.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273013\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273013\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273013\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893963_53_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C492&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"One of the fathers of science-fiction, Hugo Gernsback, demonstrates \u201cTV glasses\u201d in 1963. Fair use of photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt\/Time &amp; Life Pictures\/Getty Images, 1 January 1963\" width=\"640\" height=\"492\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893963_53_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hugo-gernsback-300x230.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hugo-gernsback-1024x787.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hugo-gernsback-768x590.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hugo-gernsback-150x115.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/hugo-gernsback-450x346.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273013\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the fathers of science-fiction, Hugo Gernsback, demonstrates \u201cTV glasses\u201d in 1963. Fair use of photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt\/Time &amp; Life Pictures\/Getty Images, 1 January 1963<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Gernsback called them \u201cTV glasses\u201d. <em>Life<\/em> called them number 26 in a list of 30 Dumb Inventions.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the technology for head-up displays \u2013 based essentially on a windshield-sized Pepper\u2019s Ghost mechanism \u2013 was being pioneered for military fighter jet cockpits, and occasionally appeared in automotive concept vehicles.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273016\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273016\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273016\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893965_274_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C394&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"An illustration depicting the \u201cPepper\u2019s Ghost\u201d illusion used in stage plays. It is the basis for early head-up displays. Illustration: Die Gartenlaube \u2013 Illustrirtes Familienblatt, 1869, public domain\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893965_274_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Peppers-Ghost-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Peppers-Ghost-1024x630.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Peppers-Ghost-768x472.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Peppers-Ghost-150x92.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Peppers-Ghost-450x277.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273016\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration depicting the \u201cPepper\u2019s Ghost\u201d illusion used in stage plays. It is the basis for early head-up displays. Illustration: Die Gartenlaube \u2013 Illustrirtes Familienblatt, 1869, public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If anyone can take credit for being the true pioneer of smart glasses, it is a super-nerd named Steve Mann. He devoted his life to the project of actually <em>wearing<\/em> prototype wearable computers, long before the term entered the mainstream lexicon.<\/p>\n<p>He built his first prototype back in 1978, when he was just 16, and has been designing, and wearing, improved versions ever since. Mann\u2019s initial idea was not to augment reality (a term that would be coined only many years later), but to enhance it.<\/p>\n<p>He was inspired as a child when his grandfather taught him to weld. Welding masks darken the view for a welder, to prevent retinal damage caused by the brightness of the electrical arc. It darkens the view uniformly, however, which has the drawback that the workpiece becomes harder to see, too.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"modern-quote pull alignright\">The notion that everything can be recorded will make even casual social encounters like walking on eggs<\/aside>\n<p>Mann thought a computer, using video cameras and a screen, would be better at filtering the view in real time, reducing the dynamic range of the image so that the bright arc would not be blinding, while the darker weld and workpiece would still be clearly visible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started exploring various ways to do this during my youth in the 1970s, when most computers were the size of large rooms and wireless data networks were unheard of,\u201d he related in an article for the IEEE\u2019s<em> Spectrum<\/em> magazine in 2013. <em>\u201c<\/em>The first versions I built sported separate transmitting and receiving antennas, including rabbit ears, which I\u2019m sure looked positively ridiculous atop my head. But building a wearable general-purpose computer with wireless digital communications capabilities was itself a feat. I was proud to have pulled that off and didn\u2019t really care what I looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Mediated reality\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Mann called his experiments \u201cmediated reality\u201d, as opposed to \u201caugmented reality\u201d. Although his various smart glass prototypes were able to overlay digital images into his sightline, various sensors were also able to enhance his vision.<\/p>\n<p>His dynamic range filter, originally used for welding, can also be used in photography, or to enhance night vision while driving. Mann claims to be able to see the face of a driver in an oncoming car even at night when their headlights would hamper his unassisted vision.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: right;\">Read: The colossal carbon capture con<\/h3>\n<p>Another design used infrared cameras, not only to improve night vision, but also do overlay subtle heat signatures onto his visual field. He developed apps to improve his ability to read text in the real world, and to superimpose map details on reality.<\/p>\n<p>He called his line of wearable devices \u201cEyeTap Digital Eye Glass\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u2026article continues below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273018\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273018\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273018\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893967_894_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A self-portrait by Steve Mann from 2004, showing one of many iterations of his home-made smart glasses\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893967_894_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Steve-Mann-2004-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Steve-Mann-2004-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Steve-Mann-2004-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Steve-Mann-2004-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Steve-Mann-2004-450x450.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273018\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A self-portrait by Steve Mann from 2004, showing one of many iterations of his home-made smart glasses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until 35 years after Mann\u2019s original prototype, however, that tech companies advanced the state of the art sufficiently to being floating concept models of consumer-orientated smart glasses at technology shows.<\/p>\n<p>Among the early movers were Oakley, a sunglasses brand which held hundreds of patents related to projecting images onto lenses, and Canon, which made extraordinarily expensive \u201cmixed reality\u201d systems for professional use, costing US$125\u00a0000 plus $25\u00a0000 per year.<\/p>\n<p>Vergence Labs released Epiphany Eyewear to developers in May 2011, and to consumers two years later.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273010\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273010\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273010\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893968_534_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C400&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Vergence Labs designed a pair of smart glasses, dubbed Epiphany Eyewear, that could pass for ordinary sunglasses. Photo: Vergence Labs\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893968_534_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epiphany-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epiphany-1024x639.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epiphany-768x479.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epiphany-150x94.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epiphany-450x281.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273010\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vergence Labs designed a pair of smart glasses, dubbed Epiphany Eyewear, that could pass for ordinary sunglasses. Photo: Vergence Labs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Epson released the Moverio BT-100 in November 2011, claiming they were the world\u2019s first standalone binocular consumer smart glasses to offer audio-visual content via wireless connectivity. Unlike the Epiphany product, however, Epson\u2019s glasses could not pass for ordinary spectacles of any kind.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273011\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273011\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273011\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893970_3_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C422&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Touted as the first transparent head-mounted display with wireless connectivity, Epson\u2019s Moverio BT-100 was released in November 2011\" width=\"640\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893970_3_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epson-Moverio-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epson-Moverio-1024x675.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epson-Moverio-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epson-Moverio-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Epson-Moverio-450x297.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273011\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Touted as the first transparent head-mounted display with wireless connectivity, Epson\u2019s Moverio BT-100 was released in November 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>These fully realised smart glasses, in production in 2011, contrast with the prototype for Google smart glasses product, still kept under wraps in a lab at the company\u2019s skunkworks division. In 2011, it weighed 3.8kg.<\/p>\n<p>In 2012, Google began pre-selling units for what it called Google Glass. It is unclear whether the company copied Mann\u2019s homework, or came up with the singular \u201cGlass\u201d moniker independently.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: right;\">Read: The most overhyped but underwhelming product in history<\/h3>\n<p>It aimed the first iterations of Google Glass at what it called \u201cGlass Explorers\u201d, which were really just paying beta testers. These initial units were only shipped a year later, in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Google Glass was finally released to consumers in April 2014, by which time they were lighter than a pair of sunglasses, though not more stylish.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273012\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273012\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273012\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893971_850_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C332&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Google released its take on smart glasses to consumers in April 2014. Photo: Dan Leveille, CC BY-SA 3.0\" width=\"640\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893971_850_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-glass-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-glass-1024x532.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-glass-768x399.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-glass-150x78.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/google-glass-450x234.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Google released its take on smart glasses to consumers in April 2014. Photo: Dan Leveille, CC BY-SA 3.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although Google was the heavyweight that made everyone sit up and take notice of smart glasses, it not only wasn\u2019t first to market, but its product was fairly limited. It had a single front-facing camera, responded to voice commands and transmitted audio via a bone-conduction speaker against the temple. It was fully networked, of course, and could run basic apps like maps and calendars.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of an augmented-reality overlay display, however, Google Glass placed a small video screen in front of and above the user\u2019s right eye. This was emphasised by the fact that Google Glass didn\u2019t require any actual lenses at all (though lenses could be fitted, and they could be prescription lenses).<\/p>\n<p>This approach had the drawback that it doesn\u2019t account for the vergence-accommodation conflict \u2013 the mismatch between where the eye focuses and where the brain thinks an image really is, which can cause eyestrain and symptoms similar to motion sickness.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"modern-quote pull alignright\">The public did not appreciate being surreptitiously and constantly filmed or recorded. They found it creepy<\/aside>\n<p>Steve Mann claimed to have solved these problems with his own approach, and expressed disappointment that Google and other manufacturers new to the smart glasses scene had taken an easier path, at the cost of potential eye strain and injury.<\/p>\n<p>Another major issue with Google Glass was the safety impact of distracting images in someone\u2019s visual field, especially while driving or in other situations where undistracted attention was necessary (or simply polite).<\/p>\n<p>Users also had issues with the unintuitive interface, limited battery life and unpolished hardware package.<\/p>\n<p>The most important criticism of Google Glass, and of smart glasses in general, however, was also identified first by Mann.<\/p>\n<h2>Creepy<\/h2>\n<p>While wearing his EyeTap Digital Eye Glass on a holiday to Paris, his all-American McDonald\u2019s meal was interrupted by an assailant who tried to rip the glasses off his face, before pushing him out onto the street. Mann tried to show his attacker documentation on the device, but the attacker and two accomplices ripped the papers up.<\/p>\n<p>The public did not appreciate being surreptitiously and constantly filmed or recorded. They found it creepy.<\/p>\n<p>Two years later, the same thing happened to a Google Glass wearer in San Francisco.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"modern-quote pull alignright\">Google Glass users were soon dubbed \u2018Glassholes\u2019. Public venues and workplaces started banning the product<\/aside>\n<p>Google Glass users were soon dubbed \u201cGlassholes\u201d. Public venues and workplaces started banning the product, fearing surveillance, misuse and objections from other patrons or employees. Google pulled Glass from the consumer market in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it tried to focus on the business market, where use cases were better defined and their use could be better circumscribed. In 2023, however, Google gave up on that market, too, and discontinued the project entirely.<\/p>\n<p>In the intervening decade, technology has advanced tremendously.<\/p>\n<p>Smart glasses have found good use cases in healthcare, manufacturing and as assistive aids for people who are visually or otherwise impaired.<\/p>\n<h2>Modern chips<\/h2>\n<p>Display technologies like waveguides, that transmit an overlay image <em>through<\/em> a lens instead of projecting it <em>onto<\/em> a lens, and systems that can project an image directly onto the retina, have made augmented reality overlays far more sophisticated.<\/p>\n<p>High-performance, low-power chips such as those from Qualcomm have made the circuitry required less bulky and extended battery life. This has allowed companies to design sleeker, far more stylish smart glasses.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273015\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273015\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273015\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893972_514_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C289&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Not your average geek. Meta has teamed up with Ray-Ban and Oakley to design a new generation of stylish smart glasses\" width=\"640\" height=\"289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893972_514_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Meta-Ray-Ban-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Meta-Ray-Ban-1024x463.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Meta-Ray-Ban-768x347.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Meta-Ray-Ban-150x68.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Meta-Ray-Ban-450x203.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273015\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Not your average geek. Meta has teamed up with Ray-Ban and Oakley to design a new generation of stylish smart glasses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Combining camera inputs and other sensors with AI-driven computer vision has opened up a world of new applications. In particular, it has proven very useful to people who are visually impaired, and who can benefit from smart glasses that describe their environment via an audio feed.<\/p>\n<p>There are many other potential applications, in business and industry. The ability to record, summarise, archive and search meetings without the need for taking minutes, for example, is a potential killer application, as is the ability to recognise and describe people in business or social settings.<\/p>\n<p>A number of companies have invested heavily in AI-powered smart glasses. Besides several smaller, specialist startiups, Facebook owner Meta Platforms has a range available in conjunction with two top fashion brands, Ray-Ban and Oakley. Snap, which owns Snapchat, bought Vergence Labs and now produces a range of smart glasses simply called Spectacles. And Apple is working on a new range of smart glasses that could be launched in 2026 or 2027.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"modern-quote pull alignright\">All the puzzle pieces are falling into place, except one: all these smart glasses depend on cameras<\/aside>\n<p>That these companies have built, or will build, excellent products that overcome many of the shortcomings of Google Glass can hardly be in doubt. All the puzzle pieces are falling into place, except one: all these smart glasses depend on cameras.<\/p>\n<p>The question is whether the appeal of new killer applications for smart glasses can overcome the visceral reaction from people who do not want to be filmed or recorded everywhere they go.<\/p>\n<p>Filming in public toilets, or while bending down to pick up a dropped coin, or while glancing up a staircase, or while watching children play in a park, are all part of the \u201ccreep factor\u201d of always-on personal cameras.<\/p>\n<p>The notion that everything you say can and will be recorded, to be used against you in evidence should the need arise, will make even casual social encounters like walking on eggs, lest you say the wrong thing.<\/p>\n<h2>Risky<\/h2>\n<p>There is no easy way to reconcile this conflict. \u201cCamera on\u201d indicators can easily be bypassed or hacked. If smart glasses must be removed in all manner of public places, users will have to carry their protective charging cases with them wherever they go. If they also use prescription lenses in their smart glasses, they will have to carry an additional pair of normal glasses, so that\u2019s two cases.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: right;\">Read: The great blockchain letdown<\/h3>\n<p>Convenience is the be-all and end-all for consumer technology. If using a device isn\u2019t completely intuitive and frictionless, the mass market will lose interest.<\/p>\n<p>There will always be commercial use cases for smart glasses. Steve Mann\u2019s welding use case is not going away. As mass market consumer devices, however, the future for smart glasses looks grim.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_273028\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-273028\" style=\"width: 1078px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273028\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893974_98_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg?resize=640%2C332&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Smart glasses may have a future, if only they can overcome the 'creep factor'\" width=\"640\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760893974_98_Why-smart-glasses-keep-failing.jpg 1078w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/smart-glasses-1078-560-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/smart-glasses-1078-560-1024x532.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/smart-glasses-1078-560-768x399.jpg 768w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/smart-glasses-1078-560-150x78.jpg 150w, https:\/\/techcentral.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/smart-glasses-1078-560-450x234.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1078px) 100vw, 1078px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-273028\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Smart glasses may have a future, if only they can overcome the \u2018creep factor\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Chances are that Google was right to give up on the puzzle. Meta and Apple are counting on the fact that nobody will notice the missing puzzle piece. And that\u2019s a risky bet.\u00a0 \u2014 <em>(c) 2025 NewsCentral Media<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Top image: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrating a pair of the company\u2019s new smart glasses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp.\u00a0<\/em><em>Sign up here<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#smart #glasses #failing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a series of sputtering starts, it finally looks like all the puzzle pieces are falling into place for the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39234,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39232\/revisions\/39234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}