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Eyeing a comeback, Google plans to launch AI-powered smart glasses with a "cleaner look" in 2026, hoping to succeed where its ambitious Google Glass failed. The tech giant's 2013 Google Glass, despite being billed by some as the future of technology, was notable for its odd appearance with a bulky screen positioned above the right eye and was ultimately pulled in 2015 less than 7 months after its release in the UK.
But it comes after Meta has already made waves with its smart specs, which have sold two million pairs as of February.
Google's new tech will let users interact with its own AI products, such as its chatbot Gemini.
It plans to launch two different varieties - one designed to provide assistance without any kind of screen, and another which has a display on the glasses themselves.
While saying the first of the two types of AI glasses it is working on would come in 2026, Google has not given more information on what form it will take.
According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, the sector saw a surge in the first half of 2025, driven by demand for Meta's devices and the launch of similar products by smaller brands. It said sales of AI glasses had grown by more than 250% compared to the previous year.
Google Glass was launched in 2013 as a pair of thin, wireframe glasses with a chunky right arm to accommodate a camera built into the corner of the right lens. Wearers could use the camera to take images and record their surroundings, while simultaneously interact with a digital display
The device created a lot of excitement when it first appeared at a Google event in June 2012. But after its launch the following year, concerns about its impact on privacy, potential for abuse and questions about its style and usefulness arose - and grew until Google said it would stop making them in that form in 2015.
A revamped version, Google Glass Enterprise, appeared two years later but was retired in 2023.
