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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of Business Wars ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. From Audible Originals, I'm David Brown and this is Business Wars. Back in 2014, Google Glass, Google's foray into the smart glasses space, fell flat with consumers and failed to gain a hold in the marketplace.
Not only that, the high-tech frames also inadvertently created controversy. Remember the glass hole backlash? A decade later, Meta changed the narrative, introducing a streamlined fashion-forward approach, partnering with brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley to make less ostentatious smart specs. With millions of pairs now sold, the results are hard to deny.
But now Google is back in the game, hoping to give Meta a dose of healthy competition with its new Android XR smart glasses, which the company just previewed at Google I.O. in May. But as smart glasses become more mainstream and get even smarter with advances in artificial intelligence, more people are raising concerns about privacy, data sharing, and facial recognition.
They're questioning the ethics of how companies and their consumers use these products. Here to unpack the ups and downs of the smart glasses evolution are Wired senior gear editor Julian Chokatu and Wired staff writer Boone Ashworth. The two have tried on their fair share of frames on Wired's gear desk.
We'll talk about how Meta emerged as the leader in the space and dive into the privacy debate. And later, we'll get Julian and Boone's thoughts on their test drive of Google's brand new Android XR glasses. and talk about where the industry might be headed next. So pop in those earbuds, or maybe you've got a pair of audio-enabled smart frames.
You're going to want to pull them out because that's all coming up next.
IC-juno 25 rushed past the sand field. Ranneke looked at Enomma with his hands when the performers started the set. The atmosphere was excited. The tunnels were dusty and people were not stoned. The food was warm and the drinks were cold. There was enough hand soap in the toilets. Festarijuna was not a crazier start to the weekend. We took care of the journey. You decide how you use it. VR.
On a common journey. When a charming neurosurgeon rode into Western towns selling a persona of confidence and care, patients trusted him. He wore cowboy boots in the operating room and became sought after by patients. He promised to heal them. Instead, he left a trail of broken bodies.
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Chapter 2: What lessons did Google Glass teach us about smart glasses?
This is a story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice. Listen to Dr. Death, The Cowboy, wherever you get your podcasts, or binge the entire series right now, only with Audible.
Julian Chukotu, Boone Ashworth, welcome to Business Wars. Thanks very much for having us. Hey, David, happy to be here. Yeah, it's great to have you. I can imagine running the gear desk at Wired's got to feel like that proverbial kid in the candy store. Before we get into the smart glasses, anything come across your desk recently that made you think, well, that's a new one.
Didn't see that coming.
Well, I'm holding a different pair of smart glasses. They're the X-Real R1 glasses that I used to watch the Fellowship of the Ring yesterday. Just a giant screen on my face that I can move around with.
Tell listeners a little bit about it. Describe it for us.
Oh, sure. They're lightweight glasses that plug into your phone or, you know, your Steam Deck or console. And then they project a big screen out in front of you and it's a little blurry. And it's a little bit of a limited field of view.
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Chapter 3: How has Meta changed the narrative in the smart glasses market?
It's about 57 degrees. You still see the rest of the room around you and your peripherals. So it's Kind of dizzy and kind of hard to get used to, but after a bit, you settle in.
Sounds like fun, question mark? I'm trying to imagine watching a movie with one of these things on. I can't imagine that would be a pleasant experience, I got to admit.
I did not make it through the entire three-hour movie.
Julian, what about you? Well, I broke my leg in like two months ago. And so it's been this opportunity to call in some stuff that are things that I would not usually test, accessibility-minded stuff. And one of which is a electric wheelchair, which actually debuted at CES earlier this year. Wow. It's called the Strut EV1. It is very expensive, but it's equipped with LiDAR.
So the same sort of sensor technology on autonomous cars. It can detect obstacles around you.
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Chapter 4: What new features does Google's Android XR smart glasses offer?
So you just push the joystick forward and it can sort of navigate around those obstacles without you having to manually, you know, drive the wheelchair yourself. There's like a follow me mode. There's different speeds can go up more inclines than your usual mobility scooter.
So it's it's actually been very, very nice in being able to just even take the dog out for, well, not really a walk, but for him, a walk, but me a roll.
But it's just been nice. And Google's what comes to mind. I mean, that was the first time I'd heard about smart glasses. And I'm wondering if maybe, Julian, you can take us back to Google Glass, which at least I feel like that was the first time a lot of us got a glimpse of what this might be. What is it? Prototype debuted in 2012, became available in 2014. It was around that time, yeah.
Chapter 5: What ethical concerns arise with AI-powered smart glasses?
I just remember I was in college. I was very into tech. I wasn't graduating in anything related to tech, but I was just super interested. And I just watched Google I.O. as a fan, not as a journalist. And I, at the time, was super excited at Google Ads because I think they debuted it. It was the one where... They had skydivers into the Moscone Center. It was such a big thing.
And Sergey Brinwag had the Google glasses on. And it was just such a new and exciting time. And it was what was supposed to be this revolutionary new technology. But ultimately, it kind of just fell flat. Immediately, everyone started calling people glassholes, anyone who was wearing them. They also looked very nerdy and techie.
And obviously, the big focal point became having a camera on your face, which is, you know, kind of a parallel to what the same conversations that we're having now on smart glasses. But I think overall, it was too expensive, too early. And it just didn't work as well to warrant all of those capabilities at the time. But they definitely were the first.
And in some ways, they sort of opened the idea up. And here we are almost more than 10 years later. And now Google is coming back to compete with the likes of Meta.
Well, Julian, what was it about Google Glass and the promise that got you really jazzed? Was it because there's a lot of functionality that was built into the dream that Google sort of put out there?
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it kind of is functional, you know, not having to pull out your phone to see where your next turn is while you're walking down the street of New York, because you'll be able to see that information on the little display on the glasses.
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Chapter 6: How do Meta's smart glasses compare to Google's new offerings?
Just being able to dismiss a notification that comes in without having to pull out your phone and check your phone and notifications and all that. Being able to tap the side and talk to an assistant of some type or even just take a picture easily.
All those things, I think there's a convenience level to that where it was just an exciting time for being able to do those functions without having to constantly pull out your phone, which I think at the time people were also talking about screen time. I have heard you say three times without pulling out my phone.
And it seems to me that that was really the convenience factor of not having to do that. But you mentioned Glasshole. Why do you think Google Glass had this, I don't know, this stigma attached to it?
Yeah, I think at the time, social media was still sort of in its, you know, infancy was still early days. And, you know, people had smartphones. But the idea of now strapping one to your face and taking a picture without someone perhaps knowing, I think, was so new. And now it's much more commonplace, even though we still have those same conversations on privacy.
It's still far more commonplace to see someone do that. Yeah, for sure. But I think it was just a little too early back then that there was just this backlash of, no, I don't want that. And, you know, we're still seeing that again, but I think it's a little more accepted ever since meta's version sort of got popular.
We have not mentioned one of the key factors here that really sort of weakened Google, I think, in the minds of a lot of folks. And that is how it looked when you were wearing them, because they looked like they were supposed to be somewhat inconspicuous in that they were sort of they were light and clear looking, but didn't really look like glasses.
And so those folks walking around with them, it looked like glasses. How do we put this kindly? Dorky.
Well, there you are.
There you are. Which brings us to the next iteration, flashing forward a few years. Boone, I know you spent a lot of time testing Meta's Ray-Bans. and talk about glasses that look like regular sunglasses. That's one of the chief benefits of going with these new meta glasses, don't you think? Sure.
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Chapter 7: What are the privacy implications of smart glasses technology?
Yeah. And for not too much of a price premium either, what are these new Meta glasses coming in at price-wise?
Depends on the model. You can get them anywhere between $250 starting and then they go up to $500. I think the display lenses are a little bit more expensive than that.
And what are the display lenses? Is that part of these flagship Gen 2 glasses? Is that what you're talking about?
No, the Gen 2 just have audio features and cameras. Meta's display glasses were something they announced, I believe, in 2024, came out last year. And they have a small display down in the bottom of the screen that can be used for transcription, language translation, seeing directions that guide you around.
They also require a wristband, a compute puck, they call it, in order to offload some of the gesture control and technology that they need to pack into the glasses. So they're a little bit bulkier than the Gen 2 ones, which is something that people were critical about.
So they look a little Google glassier, but they have the displays, which has been the holy grail for smart glasses for a long time. is having that heads-up display like you would in a video game or just walking around.
And from the perspective of someone looking at someone wearing these new display glasses, meta display glasses, do they look pretty much like standard Ray-Bans or like the Gen 2 glasses?
It's kind of old man from up, but make it fashion. So I think they're a little bit boxier. But I think if you've got the right kind of face, I suppose, or just confidence, I think you could pull it off. Okay. All right. Well, what about sales? How are sales going, to the best of your knowledge? I think Meta sold 9 million pairs of glasses. Wow. Total, I believe it was 7 million in 2025 alone.
So they've definitely been doing pretty well in terms of sales.
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Chapter 8: How do design and fashion influence the success of smart glasses?
There's also, you know, there are some people who are legally blind who use the AI to identify things around them. There are transcription services for people who are deaf that that can be useful, too, if the AI is good enough to make it work. There are real reasons that people want these and real things that they can do.
Some of them haven't manifested exactly all that well, but I think the promise is definitely there, and I think people are really intrigued by it.
Well, Boone, when you did your article about the live product demo for the Gen 2s, you included... a claim that was pretty startling and kind of a step beyond where we are right now. And Mark Zuckerberg was saying that people not wearing these glasses will be, and I'm going to quote him, at a pretty significant cognitive disadvantage.
And I guess for all the talk of the AI features and these high hopes that Zuckerberg clearly has for this, I can't help but wonder if these are just, you know, more convenient versions of the smartphone that we've gotten used to. And now we're just sort of transitioning to the to a different form factor that you wear on your face.
Maybe not even that, because what I guess really you're only getting a fraction of a phone's functionality, right? What's your take on this?
I think Meta in particular has done a really good job at putting the right phone features into the glasses, right? Like it's things that you would want, you know, want to take a picture in the moment, want to ask a question that's off the top of your head, want to know somebody's name that's not in there yet, but maybe eventually someday.
I think maybe a significant cognitive advantage is kind of a crazy way to say it. But also, I do think there are advantages to having this information readily available on your face in the moment. I think my argument is just that's probably going to be less of a social advantage. Because I'm trying to imagine being in a normal conversation with somebody...
not remembering their name and then having to wait for the glasses to tell me or like having a you know not knowing about a topic that they're talking about not wanting to sound stupid asking my glasses a question or whatever or just like even even with the display lenses like having a a little
thing, a little window in the bottom of your screen that you are looking at, people are going to be able to tell that you're not making eye contact, that you're not engaged with them in a face to face conversation. And I just I just feel like there's going to be these weird tells that you are interacting with your glasses, not a person, you know,
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