And do you think they will be mass adopted to replace smartphones once the technology becomes good enough or will the general public revolt against them like they did with google glasses? Meta just released a new pair of smart glasses which lets you have a discreet POV camera ready to film at all times, discreetly listen to music, view a projected screen just by looking to the side which is not observable to others, talk to an always present AI for any thoughts or questions that pop up during the day, discreetly send text messages by drawing letters on your leg, have instant translation for speech or text that pops up in your view, etc…
I think they’ll become mainstream eventually. It seems obvious to me that they’d be useful and eventually a far superior experience to a smart phone. If and when they start to gain steam, there will be a backlash of some degree that will likely die out because the vast majority of people have no concern for digital privacy. I think the google glass backlash was a result of them looking weird and the personalities of the people willing to drop $1000+ to get one and wear it around.
I think the real question is what kind of world will bring them into mainstream. With surveillance on the rise, I imagine the most powerful people would actually like everyone to have cameras on their faces.
I think the new meta glasses will be decently popular relative to the rest of the MR market, but will ultimately be held back by the tech industry’s insistence on AI. I don’t think any new technology will become mainstream so long as AI is a headline feature, it’s too inconsistent as a feature and wildly unprofitable as a technology. Once the AI bubble pops and the economic consequences are sorted out, that’s when I think smart glasses will get big.
So I worry if we’ll live in 1984-esque surveillance hell by then or if somehow things will turn around. Either way I think smart glasses are coming and they’ll be common soon.