AI is coming into its own. It’s now used in everything from art and education to governance and science, showing how its endless possibilities are becoming increasingly beneficial to countless industries across the globe. It’s not stopping there: with a Statista report forecasting the AI market’s value to grow from 184 billion to just under 830 billion between now and the end of the decade, it’s no wonder that this emerging technology continues to develop at a rapid pace.
Fresh out of its development stage, it’s now starting to mature—and that means we can do more with it than ever before. One of the biggest ways AI is evolving is by making devices themselves smarter, from home security systems to smartwatches. Yet out of all of these cutting-edge inventions, AI-powered smart glasses are arguably the most versatile. Here’s more on how simply making an everyday accessory smarter is helping AI reach new heights in a diverse range of industries:
We’ve already seen how popular emerging technologies are for entertainment, with things like virtual reality making gaming more immersive. However, AI-powered smart glasses can do even more by revolutionizing how wearers both see and interact with the world. That’s because they can basically act as a hands-free smartphone—but with added features, to boot. Take the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses: with its 12 MP cameras, a five-mic system, and open-ear speakers, users can text, hold audio and video calls, take photos and videos from a first-person perspective, and even upload media to platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, what really stands out is its Ask Meta AI assistant. With the simple voice command “Hey Meta,” one can ask for GPS directions, translate signs written in foreign languages, write social media captions, and even identify objects they’re looking at. These AI features can enhance several leisure activities, including outdoor activities like hiking and cycling, content creation, cooking, and travel.
Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT are already changing how students do their homework. The Pew Research Center’s findings reveal that one in five teenagers who’ve heard of it have used it for school, primarily for researching unfamiliar topics. So how can AI-powered smart glasses do it better? It can streamline the process of using generative AI and even create immersive environments that—alongside augmented reality (AR)—students can use to explore historical sites or even break down complex scientific and mathematic concepts. That’s what you’ll get with the Frame smart glasses from the startup Brilliant Labs. This distinctive model combines AI and AR functionalities, meaning you can give its AI assistant, Noa, some queries and see your answers projected on a digital display right in front of you. Noa uses a number of AI models to give you what you need, including Perplexity for simple web searches, Whisper for translations—and, more uniquely, OpenAI for visual analysis, offering countless possibilities for improved learning outcomes.
Whether healthcare workers are making diagnoses or conducting surgical procedures, they need to parse through significant amounts of data to make the right decisions. That’s where emerging technologies can help. Our post notes it can extract and map information, keep data free from errors, and analyze it to glean key insights. What AI-powered smart glasses do is make those insights more readily available in a profession where your hands are always busy. Manufacturers are even coming out with models specifically designed for the industry. The smart glasses from Vuzix mix AI and AR for an enhanced user experience—but with dedicated healthcare features. For example, they can identify what’s shown on X-rays and calculate the surface area of a wound to estimate how long it will take to heal. Yet the model also exemplifies that AI smart glasses’ endless potential in healthcare by doing more than just streamlining healthcare data management: it can also blur faces when broadcasting surgeries, ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality while benefiting educational and training procedures.
The rise of smart glasses proves AI can do more than we initially thought possible. With more models in development for further niches like warehousing and data visualization, we can expect these AI-powered devices to provide even more benefits as time goes on.