Apple Takes On Meta With New Smart Glasses Powered By visionOS

Apple’s charge into the AR/VR market has not sparked the transformative change the tech giant might have hoped for. The Vision Pro headset because of its bulky design and steep price tag faced significant criticism. Still, Apple remains undeterred in its ambitions. 

In fact, the company appears to be sure to border its horizons within the wearable tech space, venturing beyond XR. As per reports by Bloomberg, Apple is exploring different concepts for smart glasses, some including cutting-edge AR optics, while others lack a complex display. 

Mark Gurman’s report in the PowerOn newsletter mentioned, “Apple is already developing a version of visionOS — the software for the Vision Pro — tailored for glasses.” 

The report also highlighted an internal initiative which is known as Atlas to gather employee insights on the market potential for smart glasses. This initiative looks forward to defining the features and benefits that Apple should include in its smart glasses. 

However, Apple’s timing in the smart glasses arena is less than ideal. Meta has already launched its Orion AR smart glasses concept. However, it remains a few years away from hitting the market as the company waits for a reduction in production costs. 

Google has also hinted at its commitment to smart glasses, with Android XR laying the groundwork for its ambition. Other companies such as Even Realities and Halliday are pursuing a more streamlined approach to smart glasses. 

Yet, it looks like Apple is not just satisfied with the idea of XR glasses. The company has taken note of the success of the Meta Stories smart glasses which were created in collaboration with Ray-Ban. In addition to this, the Bloomberg report mentions that Apple is further investigating other types of wearable technology including a competitor to Meta’s Ray-Ban spectacles and even AirPods equipped with cameras.