Die künstliche Intelligenz-Smartbrille erwartet den Kampf zwischen hunderten von Brillenmodellen.

The rapidly developing large generative AI models have given smart glasses a new narrative.

Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent quarterly earnings conference call, "I still believe that glasses will be the ideal form of AI because they can allow AI to see what you see, hear what you hear, and talk to you." He even stated that people without AI glasses may be at a cognitive disadvantage.

Apple also seems to agree with the view that smart glasses are the ideal form of AI. It has been reported that Apple glasses will transmit visual data to the AI assistant through the camera, achieving functions similar to iPhone's visual intelligence and providing real-time responses based on what the wearer sees. In the past year, Apple's investment in this field has increased significantly, further confirming the competitive potential of this technological path.

Song Gang, the head of the Intelligent Information Business Group at Alibaba, also mentioned that as the "sensory center" of the next generation of human-computer interaction, AI glasses will trigger a sharp explosion in personal data volume and are expected to become the most important personal mobile entry point after smartphones. He believes that glasses are located in the ecological niche of the human head, and head-mounted devices can capture more than 80% of the human body's perceptual input. In addition, glasses have many usage scenarios, covering diverse scenarios such as work, life, and mobility.

In fact, currently, from search and question-answering, intelligent assistants, writing tools to image and video generation, various AI products are emerging in an endless stream. However, these products rely on mobile phones and computers, making it difficult to break free from the constraints of fixed scenarios or the original ecosystem, and they are also somewhat far from people's ideal of obtaining AI services anytime and anywhere.

At this time, AI smart glasses bring new hope to everyone.

Currently, tech giants such as Apple, Meta, Alibaba, Huawei, and Xiaomi have all entered the market, positioning smart glasses as the ultimate carrier of the "portable AI assistant." Securities analysts also believe that smart glasses have the potential to replace mobile phones in scenarios such as sports and commuting.

Market data also shows that smart glasses are experiencing explosive growth and have great potential in the future. According to Tianyancha Professional Edition data, as of now, there are more than 400 existing enterprises related to smart glasses in China.

According to data released by IDC, in Q1 2025, the global smart glasses market shipped 1.487 million units, a year-on-year increase of 82.3%. During the same period, the Chinese smart glasses market shipped 494,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 116.1%.

It can be seen that the market generally has high expectations for the new story of AI smart glasses. However, there are also other voices in the market.

AR Glasses: A Stepping Stone for AI Glasses?

In July 2025, Xu Chi, the founder of XREAL, also expressed a similar view on his WeChat Moments, "I hope everyone can maintain strategic determination. We'd like to make a statement first: XREAL will not launch AI glasses in 2025. We will focus on polishing the experience of our AR glasses and create a hit AR glasses product first."

In Xu Chi's view, "I think the industry currently has a high consensus on the endgame, but there is a high level of disagreement on the path to reach it." He believes that the current AI glasses industry is still in the "first half" or even the "first half of the first half," and more importantly, it is just a superficial pursuit of the "AI glasses" concept by the capital market.

He believes that XREAL should focus its funds and energy on refining the core modules and then guide the industry in the right direction.

Zhu Mingming, the founder of Rokid, believes that "AI is definitely the focus of future development, but don't assign too many responsibilities to it from the start." He also said that in terms of path selection, Rokid emphasizes "doing subtraction."

Taking the translation function of Rokid Glasses as an example, based on Alibaba's Tongyi large model, the accuracy of multi-language translation has been improved to 98%, and the prompt function is suitable for more than 20 sub-scenarios such as speeches and live broadcasts. Previously, Zhu Mingming personally wore Rokid Glasses to deliver a public speech.

Xu Chi of XREAL focuses on the R & D of the core modules of smart glasses. At the end of last year, Xreal released a self-developed co-processor chip, X1. In the latest XREAL One Pro, XREAL also developed a self-developed optical solution, "X Prism."

Xu Chi's move is to gain an advantage in the supply chain.

He said that if these core products can be obtained from the supply chain, it means that the entire industry chain is already very mature, and more large manufacturers will enter the market. At that time, it will be more difficult for XREAL to stand out with its own advantages. Therefore, XREAL develops chips and solves optical problems to gain an edge in hardware technology.

This reveals the hidden difficulties of small manufacturers such as Rokid, XREAL, and TCL Thunderbird. They are difficult to compete with giants like Huawei and Alibaba in terms of AI large models, cloud storage, funds, and talents.

In fact, in the early stage, there was already a prototype of cooperation between giants and small manufacturers. The translation function of Rokid Glasses is based on Alibaba's Tongyi large model. Alibaba's Quark AI glasses adopted the C2M customization model in cooperation with TCL Thunderbird Innovation, reducing the product return rate by 40% compared with the industry average. The AI large model jointly developed by Thunderbird Innovation and Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen has compressed the average response time to 1.3 seconds, building barriers in vertical fields such as medical consultations and foreign language teaching.

The future survival chance for small manufacturers such as Rokid, XREAL, and Thunderbird may be to utilize their technological accumulation and cooperate with giants, even if it means becoming suppliers.

In fact, smart glasses hardware can also generate revenue. In the future, the profit model can be expanded through content subscriptions, value-added services, etc., and it can also provide a more intuitive, immersive, and convenient user experience.

However, the hardware technology of smart glasses is not yet mature, and there is indeed a lot of room for improvement.

Poor User Experience Deters Consumers

Currently, smart glasses on the market can be roughly divided into five types. The first type is glasses with only audio functions for listening to music and making phone calls. The second type is glasses with a camera added on the basis of the first type, which can be used for shooting and can also analyze the scene in front of the user with the help of AI. The third type is AI + AR glasses, which have a display function on the lenses on the basis of the second type. The fourth type is split-type AR glasses, which need to be connected to a host via a cable. The fifth type is VR glasses, which have not been popularized due to high hardware costs and poor user experience.

Currently, lightweight glasses, that is, the first three types of devices, are the mainstream in the glasses market, and 99% of smart glasses are of the second type. However, most users are not satisfied with the AI functions of smart glasses. Problems such as discomfort when wearing, short battery life, and rigid AI interaction experience are still obvious. They can only use the glasses for listening to music and taking photos.

Last weekend, Yidu Pro experienced Rokid's products at Beijing Chaoyang Joy City. The displayed images were dim, and the interactive control was not sensitive. It felt like stuffing a projector into the glasses, and wearing the glasses for a long time would cause discomfort, which was significantly worse than the experience provided by TVs or projectors.

In addition, smart glasses need to be used with mobile phones, rings, or portable terminals. For example, Rokid's Sration2 terminal combines the functions of a mouse and a power bank, which is not very convenient to operate.

Moreover, when other smart glasses are used in conjunction with mobile phones, users need to unlock their phones frequently to operate, which is inconvenient when switching audio or exporting shooting materials.

Currently, most smart glasses use Qualcomm's AR1 chip. Since AR1 is modified based on the architecture of mobile phones or watches, problems are inevitable. This shows that smart glasses are more like a poorly assembled and deformed product.

Industry insiders point out that currently, the interaction function of smart glasses is significantly different from that of mobile phones, and it will take at least 5 to 10 years of development and accumulation for smart glasses to become the mainstream entry point.

For smart glasses to be practical and reliable, their battery life, face recognition, and memory processing capabilities need to be enhanced to enable all-day intelligent assistance. At the same time, the interaction mode of smart glasses must be more natural. Currently, AI glasses mainly rely on voice and gesture interaction, and in the future, it may evolve into low-friction input methods such as wristband sEMG and brain-computer interfaces.

To solve these problems, a separate operating system, customized chips, and optical accessories are required.

In addition, an incident where a certain brand of smart glasses was suspected of having a "secret filming risk" due to the lack of an indicator light has also attracted the attention of regulatory authorities. Safety indicators such as privacy protection and electromagnetic radiation also need to be met to regulate the healthy development of the industry.

Currently, smart glasses face many problems. The most core problem is that the market has not yet accepted smart glasses. The defects and high prices of smart glasses make consumers hesitant. At this time, it is urgent for giants to enter the market and play a greater role.

The Market Needs Giants to Enter

The participation of giants is beneficial to the entire industry. It helps to improve the public's awareness of such products and truly promotes the transformation of AI glasses from a niche market to a mass consumer market.

Take Xiaomi's smart glasses as an example.

Xiaomi's first AI glasses project was approved by Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, in June 2024 and was successfully launched. After Lei Jun approved and ordered the promotion of Xiaomi's AI glasses, the project advanced at a high efficiency. Just one year later, Xiaomi's first AI glasses were unveiled at the press conference of the full ecosystem of vehicles, homes, and people.

Li Chuangqi, the person in charge of Xiaomi's AI glasses project, revealed that in order to make this project as successful as possible within a limited time, almost the most expensive components were selected.

Although Xiaomi's AI glasses have some shortcomings, the price of 1,999 yuan allows more people to experience them. It not only leaves an initial impression on users but also educates the market to a certain extent.

Li Chuangqi also said that he hopes that within three years, Xiaomi can use its platform to promote the development of the smart glasses industry chain. By then, the annual shipment of Xiaomi's AI glasses may exceed 5 million units. With more than 700 million myopic people in China, the shipment of smart glasses may exceed 50 million units.

In addition to having sufficient funds and rich resources to concentrate on promoting development, the most important thing is that the business ecosystems of giants can achieve synergy, bringing a better experience to users.

Song Gang, the head of the Intelligent Information Business Group at Alibaba, hopes to rely on Alibaba's R & D investment, years of accumulation in the high-end hardware field, and the multi-modal and vertical field AI capabilities developed by Quark based on Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen large model, combined with Quark's personal data processing capabilities, to create truly practical and useful AI glasses.

For example, in cooperation with AutoNavi Maps, AI glasses can provide navigation guidance for cycling and walking. In cooperation with Alipay, AI glasses can directly scan codes for payment. In cooperation with Taobao, AI glasses have the function of searching for and comparing product prices. In cooperation with Fliggy, AI glasses can add business travel itinerary reminders.

More importantly, the entry of giants can quickly integrate the supply chain of the smart glasses industry. Cooperation with small manufacturers can achieve complementary advantages in the fields of software and hardware, rapidly promoting the update and iteration of the smart glasses industry and gaining a leading position in international competition.

Conclusion

As for when AI glasses will truly explode? Xu Chi's answer is around 2027 or 2028. He said, "When Lei Jun personally decides to devote 70% or 80% of his time to glasses, it will really be the time for a hundred-glasses battle in this industry."

Zhao Zhongxia, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence and a visiting scholar at Peking University, believes in an interview that in the future, three types of companies are expected to gain an advantage: companies with large models, companies with AI application entry points, and companies with hardware ecosystems. Currently, only giants such as Huawei, Alibaba, and Xiaomi meet these three criteria. There is an opportunity for new giants to emerge in the AI glasses industry.

The newly released XREAL One Pro is equipped with XREAL's self-developed X Prism optical engine and self-developed X1 spatial computing chip. It is reported that XREAL has established in-depth cooperation with Google. In addition to cooperating with domestic giants, foreign technology giants are also a good choice.

Currently, the layout of smart glasses manufacturers is more of a strategic move to reserve advantageous resources to gain a foothold in the market. The entire industry is also looking forward to a hundred-glasses battle to promote the maturity of the supply chain, product experience, and market education.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Yidu Pro." Author: Huohuo. Republished by 36Kr with permission.