{"id":2451,"date":"2026-06-18T15:07:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2026-06-18T15:07:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:07:50","slug":"larry-magid-smart-glasses-come-into-focus-at-augmented-world-expo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2451","title":{"rendered":"Larry Magid: Smart glasses come into focus at Augmented World Expo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019ve attended several Augmented Word Expos since (AWE), the first one in 2010. Even back then, there was talk about smart glasses that could superimpose computer generated images over the \u201creal world.\u201d\u00a0 But the actual products were not only few and far between, but primitive, bulky and clearly not ready for mass adoption.<\/p>\n

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This year\u2019s AWE conference, held at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, demonstrated how far things have come.\u00a0 Several companies were showing off smart glasses, which look pretty much like regular prescription or sun glasses but with sophisticated electronics that enable them to sense what is around you and report back either through speakers or, in some cases, see through displays embedded into the lenses.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 smart glasses, and although I didn\u2019t write about them, I\u2019ve also had a chance to try Meta\u2019s newer Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses. Like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses I own, they look much like ordinary eyewear and include a camera, speakers, microphones, and Meta AI. They can answer questions about what you\u2019re looking at, take photos and videos, translate speech and text, handle calls and messages, play music and provide AI assistance without requiring you to pull out your phone.<\/p>\n

What sets the $799 Display model apart is a small heads-up display built into one lens. It can show notifications, directions, translations and responses from Meta AI while allowing you to keep your attention on the world around you. It can also be used as a teleprompter.<\/p>\n

Snap pushes smart glasses forward<\/strong><\/p>\n

Snap, the company behind the popular Snapchat social network, entered the wearable market in 2016 with Spectacles, camera-equipped sunglasses for Snapchat users. It has updated them over the years, and at AWE, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel introduced SPECS, an impressive new augmented-reality product.<\/p>\n

Specs can display virtual screens, interactive 3D objects, games, educational content, navigation cues and AI-powered assistance that appear anchored in the physical world. Unlike glasses that simply show notifications or text, Specs are designed to blend digital experiences with a user\u2019s real-world surroundings. A key part of Snap\u2019s strategy is Lens Studio, a developer platform that lets third parties create augmented-reality experiences, known as Lenses.<\/p>\n

I had a chance to briefly try out the new Specs. I took a virtual trip on the Apollo moon mission and played a game called Fruit Defense. It wasn\u2019t enough to fully test out the glasses, but I did get a feel for how you can see computer-generated images superimposed on your physical environment and use hand and finger gestures in lieu of a pointing device.<\/p>\n

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At his AWE keynote, where he introduced Specs, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel described them as \u201ca computer that understands the world around you instead of pulling you out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He contrasted the experience of looking down at a phone screen with the promise of augmented-reality glasses that can understand a user\u2019s surroundings and provide information without disconnecting them from the real world. His vision is that computing should become part of our environment rather than compete with it for our attention. That theme ran throughout his keynote, and he summed it up with, \u201cthe smartphone put our lives in our pockets. But augmented reality puts computing into the world where life actually happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Component makers<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I walked through the AWE expo hall, I saw several companies demonstrating smart glasses as well as the underlying technologies that could power future products from a wide range of manufacturers.<\/p>\n

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Qualcomm, whose Snapdragon chips power many of today\u2019s smartphones and an increasing number of PCs, had a large exhibit showcasing technologies that could enable other companies to create smart glasses and other augmented-reality products, just as their chips enable phone and PC makers to create products. One prototype I experienced could identify a person simply by looking at their face and then display their name and background information. In its current implementation, it only recognizes people who are already in the user\u2019s contacts. That not only eliminates the need for access to a massive face-recognition database, but also serves as an important privacy safeguard by preventing users from identifying random people they encounter.<\/p>\n

Others pitching their technology to would-be smart glasses makers included Himax, a Taiwanese company with a tiny display module that can project information into smart glass lenses as well as eye-tracking technology.<\/p>\n

Bill Hoppin, chief business officer at Silicon Valley-based FemtoAI, describes his company as an \u201cenabling technology for smart glasses and other battery-constrained or power-constrained devices. We make both a chip and a software platform.\u201d He said the company\u2019s technology can \u201cachieve up to 100 times lower power consumption,\u201d which could be a major advantage for smart glasses that need to remain small and lightweight, which means using small batteries.<\/p>\n

Like many exhibitors at AWE, his FemtoAI\u2019s customers are not end-users but other companies that make products.<\/p>\n

Reminiscent of the PC clone business<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s too early to know for sure, but my sense is that we\u2019re going to see a flood of companies enter the smart-glasses market, much as we did in the 1980s and 1990s when there were hundreds of PC makers. A few of the larger players will develop their own chips, displays, and operating systems, but most are likely to follow the path of the PC clone makers, purchasing hardware and licensing software from many of the companies that exhibited at AWE 2026.<\/p>\n

Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist. Contact him at larry@larrymagid.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

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