Samsung reveals first details of its AI smart glasses to CNBC

Samsung is gearing up to introduce its innovative AI-powered smart glasses, featuring a unique camera positioned at eye level. This announcement was made by Jay Kim, the executive vice president of Samsung's mobile division, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. These smart glasses will connect seamlessly to smartphones, allowing the device to process the visual information captured by the glasses' camera. Currently, Meta's Ray-Ban glasses dominate the market with an impressive 82% share, according to Counterpoint Research, but Samsung is determined to carve out its own niche alongside competitors like Alibaba and Xreal. Since 2023, Samsung has been collaborating with Qualcomm and Google to develop an operating system and hardware that support mixed-reality technology, which merges augmented and virtual reality. The launch of the Galaxy XR headset last year marked the first product of this partnership, utilizing Google's Android-based XR operating system designed for virtual and mixed reality. Kim expressed optimism about the potential of smart glasses, suggesting they could have broader appeal than other XR devices due to their compact form factor and the fact that eyewear is already widely used. He noted, "Everybody talks about what the next AI device is, and I know I've been looking at many different types of devices. Glasses, obviously, is one of them and everybody's looking at it." The surge in advanced AI applications, such as Google Gemini and ChatGPT, has fueled the demand for smart glasses. Manufacturers are exploring ways for users to interact with AI services more intuitively, such as using voice commands or integrating the glasses' camera for input. Kim emphasized the importance of AI being able to understand the wearer’s focus, stating that it would enhance the functionality of the glasses by relaying relevant information through the connected smartphone. While he remained tight-lipped about whether the glasses would include a built-in display, he mentioned that Samsung offers other devices, like smartwatches and smartphones, to fulfill display needs. The ambitious timeline set by Samsung aims for an industry-ready product by this year, aligning with Qualcomm's optimistic outlook for the smart glasses market. Amon highlighted the inherent advantages of smart glasses, noting their proximity to users' senses, which could enable more interactive and autonomous AI experiences. He envisions a future where tasks traditionally performed on smartphones and laptops could transition to smart glasses, similar to the evolution of smartphones from limited applications to a vast ecosystem. As the technology matures, Amon predicts that the capabilities of smart glasses will expand significantly, paving the way for a new era of wearable tech.