Google has announced plans to try smart glasses again in 2026

Google plans to launch artificial intelligence (AI) smart glasses in 2026 after a previous high-profile attempt to enter the market failed.

The tech giant raised expectations when it introduced Google Glass in 2013. Some consider them the future of technology. Despite the strange appearance with the bulky screen above the right eye.

Google discontinued the product in 2015, seven months after it launched in the UK, but now plans to re-enter the market with smart glasses with a cleaner look.

This comes after the Meta already made waves with its smart specs, selling two million pairs as of February.

Google’s new technology allows users to interact with its own artificial intelligence products, such as the Gemini chatbot.

It plans to release two different variants, one designed for screenless assistance and one with a screen in glasses.

While it says the first of two types of AI glasses it’s working on will arrive in 2026, Google hasn’t given any more details on what form they’ll take.

Technology analyst Paolo Pescatore told the BBC that the tech company “must avoid the pitfalls of its previous failed attempts”.

“Without a doubt, this measure was ahead of its time, poorly conceived and poorly implemented,” he said.

“Now thanks to the Twins winning.”

Google will also have to compete with Meta, which introduced its own AI glasses earlier this year, building on existing collaborations with luxury eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley.

According to Counterpoint Research, a market research company, in the first half of 2025 the demand for meta devices and the launch of similar products by smaller brands will grow significantly.

Sales of AI glasses are up more than 250% year over year, he said.

Google Glass launched in 2013 as a thin pair of wire-framed glasses with a thick right frame to accommodate a camera built into the corner of the right lens.

Users can use the camera to take pictures and record their surroundings while interacting with the digital display.

The device caused quite a stir when it was first unveiled at a Google event in June 2012.

But after its launch the following year, questions arose about its impact on privacy, the potential for abuse, and the styles and uses that spilled over to Google. Google has said that it will stop producing them in 2015 in this form.

Two years later, an updated version of Google Glass Enterprise appeared. But he retired in 2023.

Former BBC technology correspondent Rory Celan-Jones was among those who felt Google’s device was a “failure” in its original form.

The success of so-called laptops, he wrote, is having the technology to realize their potential and being “so attractive to use and so easy to use that you forget you have them.”

Today, tech giants are teaming up with designer eyewear brands to try to make AI and smart glasses more wearable, and pack more power and features into smaller, slimmer frames.

But there are concerns about privacy and usability.