"About a month ago, I was walking in Williamsburg and a stylish Brooklyn hipster stopped me to ask about the Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses I was testing. A few weeks later, I went to dinner with a friend that I hadn't seen in years. It wasn't until we were walking to the train that I noticed they were wearing a pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. I went to a concert, turned my head, and saw someone in my section with the Ray-Bans' recording light on."
"No one expected much when the company launched its second-generation Ray-Bans nearly two years ago. (I mean, its first-gen glasses were a bonafide flop, with 90 percent of users abandoning the device.) Now, it's 2025, and the company has sold 2 million pairs."
Smart glasses are increasingly appearing in public and being used, with devices like Oakley Meta HSTN and Ray-Ban Meta spotted on regular people. Wearers have recorded events with Ray-Bans' recording light, and footage has been uploaded to platforms like TikTok. Early models struggled—first-generation devices experienced high abandonment rates—but second-generation Ray-Bans have sold two million pairs by 2025. Partner companies plan to increase production. Consumer curiosity ahead of major company events like Connect suggests demand, while long-term success requires ongoing category-forward innovation.
Read at The Verge
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