Apple's future roadmap for wearable devices may include ai-powered smart glasses, as well as AirPods with cameras. ai-glasses-airpods-with-cameras-smart-ring-lt1kb7cd?srnd=undefined”>according to Mark Gurman currently Switched on newsletter for Bloomberg. Both concepts are in the exploration phase within Apple, which represents more of a look at the company's future plans than discrete products.
The smart glasses would have the same angle as the AirPods, he says, just with more sensors, artificial intelligence features and longer-lasting batteries. But while they would serve as a cheaper headset than the Vision Pro, they wouldn't be the AR-faced computer with high-quality transparent screens that Apple is trying to achieve. Gurman writes that these glasses would be a step in that direction that is more comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans, which feature a camera and an ai assistant you can talk to, but without a screen.
Apple also reportedly began researching camera-equipped AirPods last year, under the codename B798. If the company can pull it off, they would be about the same size as modern AirPods, only with low-resolution built-in cameras that would combine with artificial intelligence to help users with their routines.
Apple is looking for ways to bolster its wearables division as its existing products have matured. Putting cameras on AirPods is a decidedly crazy idea that vaguely hints at Apple's plans for generative ai, and who knows: if people are open to taking on computers, why not cameras in their ears too? Gurman mentions that Apple's long-rumored smart ring idea still has its proponents in Cupertino, but Apple isn't actively developing anything in what remains an interesting, but unproven wearable category.
However, the company has put a lot more work into AR glasses. And since Meta has established that it is possible to use screenless smart glasses, it makes sense that Apple is starting to go that route.
