Meta opened its first pop-up Ray-Ban smart glasses store in Los Angeles, hoping to test out whether it can move the needle with broader adoption by selling the glasses in-person. Meta calls the store “experiential retail,” having modeled it after the Meta Lab pop-up at Connect 2024 in October, which allowed event-goers to try on a pair of smart glasses to capture photos and videos.
Meta is smart to want to further its head start in the smart glasses arena, because competitors are coming for them!
Baidu (ie: China's Google) is preparing to launch its own AI-powered smart glasses soon, which will include cameras and voice interactions, much like Meta's smart glasses. Baidu's smart glasses will integrate with its existing services such as Baidu Maps and Baike, the company's Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia.
The new product is anticipated to debut at the Baidu World event in Shanghai this week. Market availability is expected by early 2025.
Apple is also reportedly thinking about entering the smart glasses market, recently having gotten employee input on a range of existing smart glasses with plans to hold further focus groups. Apple is notoriously slow to enter new markets, but when it does, often knocks it out the park. Apple smart glasses that interact with Apple Intelligence and the rest of its hardware and software ecosystem could be a gamechanger for Apple users.
Apple is also continuing to develop AirPods with outward facing cameras, which, in combination with the cameras on smart glasses, could turn Apple users into human Tesla cars.
The mass adoption of smart glasses could launch a new wave of e-commerce, opening the door to features like instant product reviews using the camera's image recognition features, real-time virtual customer support through voice, and easier facilitation of location-based offers. “Hey Meta, any lunch deals nearby?”