Can Warby Parker & Google crack the smart glasses code?
A planned new line of artificial intelligence-enabled smart glasses may represent a major step forward in what could be called "spatial commerce."
Warby Parker and Google are jointly developing AI-powered glasses intended for all-day wear. The companies intend to launch a series of smart eyewear products that will incorporate multimodal AI with prescription and non-prescription lenses as soon as 2026.
The glasses will be built on Google’s Android XR eyewear platform and quipped with a camera, microphones and speakers, Android XR glasses work in tandem with a user’s phone, giving them access to their apps and an optional in-lens display privately provides information when the user needs it.
Smart glasses are not a new concept. Google ended all support for a previous connected eyewear concept called Google Glass in the consumer market in 2016 and discontinued it entirely in 2022.
However, Android XR-based smart glasses will compete with current visual virtual reality interfaces like Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest (formerly Oculus).
[READ MORE: How Apple Vision Pro’s arrival affects retail]
Both of those platforms have sold enough units to continue being developed, but neither has become a mainstream consumer device. But the Warby Parker-Google model may prove more successful with shoppers. Here are a few reasons why.
Form factor
Google Glass was a strange-looking contraption with thick metallic frames, rectangular lenses that resembled eye protectors from a science lab, and a small camera mounted on the wearer’s right side. They were awkward, uncool and looked like something out of “Star Trek.”
Meanwhile, Apple Vision Pro requires a large set of goggles and Meta Quest users wear a headset. Both have lent themselves to specialized uses such as gaming or corporate training, but so far have had a harder time translating as tools for everyday uses like shopping.
It’s too early to say exactly what the Warby Parker-Google smart glasses will look like, but both companies cited Warby Parker’s history of stylish design in announcing their joint initiative. If their new AI-equipped glasses look smart as well as act smart, a major hurdle to widespread adoption will be removed.
App convenience
By connecting their smart glasses directly to a user’s phone, Warby Parker and Google are streamlining the process a user has to go through to perform spatial commerce tasks.
While there will likely be some specialized apps for the device (such as for navigating immersive virtual reality environments), a user will be able to immediately have access to all their existing day-to-day apps on their phone with no extra steps involved.
In contrast, Apple Vision Peo requires users to download compatible apps to their phone or directly to the device. In an age of heightened consumer expectations for convenient, streamlined experiences, this represents additional work and could also crowd a user’s phone with duplicate apps.
The Meta Quest works similarly to Apple Vision Pro in regard to the need to download separate apps to a user’s phone or device and also requires a dedicated Meta account (separate from a Facebook account) and the download of the Meta Horizon app.
Timing
A cliché of the tech industry says that “pioneers get the arrows.” Like any cliché, it contains some truth. Google Glass came out when the notion of smart glasses was a radical idea. Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro benefited from Google Glass absorbing the initial shock waves caused by the form factor and their designers had the luxury of learning from Google’s missteps.
With smart glasses no longer seen as the stuff of science fiction and Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest generating real sales figures, Warby Parker and Google are entering a developing but established market. For now, whether they can crack the code that will lead to large numbers of consumers engaging in spatial shopping remains the stuff of future speculation.
