Can Apple beat Meta smart glasses by adding cameras and AI to AirPods Pro?
After Meta made AI wearables a centerpiece of its announcements at Meta Connect 2024, the question becomes how its rivals will respond. In particular, there are a lot of rumors going around about what Apple is planning in response to the upgraded Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and the upcoming Orion smart glasses that use augmented reality along with AI.
One big long-term one rumor is that Apple plans to integrate the hardware and AI software for a wearable not into glasses, but into the next generation of AirPods Pro. That could include cameras and AI features that match what you see in Meta’s smart glasses. This potential competition sets the stage for a battle for wearables, with both companies attempting to redefine the way users interact with the digital and physical worlds.
Meta boasted that the upgraded Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses can take photos, livestream video and otherwise provide hands-free access to the world with both audio and visual receptors controlled by voice commands. Because the Meta AI assistant is integrated into the device, the smart glasses can handle requests in conversational form. However, they are just a shadow of what the Orion smart glasses previewed at the event could do. Orion will use augmented reality to merge digital content with the physical world through a holographic display.
Smart future
Apple’s approach with the speculative AirPods Pro is more about using AI for contextual awareness, using infrared cameras to interpret the space around you. No photos or videos were taken from the perspective of your ears. Instead, it would use visual input to subtly improve navigation and fitness tracking and be even more responsive to gesture controls. They would also likely expand on Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which delivers an even more accurate spatial audio experience by tracking head movements and adjusting sound based on the user’s environment.
The best way to think about the difference between Meta’s smart glasses and Apple’s AirPods with AI tools is how they connect the AI to the hardware. They can divide potential users based on what they want from their wearables. Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses are focused on visually capturing and sharing experiences, while Apple’s AirPods seem to be more about improving the AI assistant with more passive input than is currently available. What they share is an interest in immersive experiences and making AI an ever-present aspect of wearable technology.
While Orion connects the physical and digital worlds through augmented reality, Apple’s AirPods offer a lighter touch in raising environmental awareness and increasing the AI assistant’s ability to help you. However, the integration into the Apple headset gives more weight to the AirPods and their ability to deliver AI experiences. That’s especially true if they can sync with Apple’s extensive ecosystem of devices.