Silicon Valley eyes reboot of Google Glass-style headsets

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Silicon Valley’s search for a consumer device to succeed the smartphone has revived an idea that crashed and burnt almost a decade ago: Google Glass-style headsets.

The difference this time is that the new wave of smart glasses, led by Meta’s Ray-Bans, are infused with artificial intelligence. Developers and device makers hope that constant, easy access to ChatGPT-style assistants will win over consumers in a way that Glass failed to do.

Much of the buzz around tech headsets in recent months has focused on Apple’s upcoming launch of its long-awaited Vision Pro, a large and pricey “mixed-reality” device that can show realistic 3D holograms.

But some of the biggest cheerleaders of those kinds of headsets are now putting their weight behind the concept of simpler glasses that rely more on voice than visuals.

“We see an incredible potential [for smart glasses], especially as you use audio and large language models as an interface,” said Cristiano Amon, chief executive of Qualcomm, the mobile chipmaker whose processors power Meta’s Ray-Bans as well as its Quest virtual reality headsets.

Silicon Valley’s longstanding aspiration that consumers will wear cameras on their faces and talk to virtual assistants through their glasses has failed to materialise, however.

Google unveiled Glass, futuristic smart glasses featuring a camera that could be controlled by voice commands, in 2012.

The company shelved the product for consumers in early 2015, after wearers of the $1,500 headset had been dubbed “glassholes” for bringing cameras into unwelcome situations and in a few cases physically assaulted.

That did not deter companies including Magic Leap, Amazon and Snap from launching smart glasses in the years since, but none has achieved mass-market success.

The first version of Meta’s Ray-Bans, which had cameras and tiny speakers…