"Years from now, I'll look back at 2025 as the year when a fundamental shift happened in wearable technology. Over the last decade, the category has been synonymous with health and fitness. In many ways, that association is still the primary one. But this year, I've seen an increasing number of tech companies pitch another trajectory for wearables: as vehicles for AI."
"During CES last January, it became clear that the unexpected success of Meta's Ray-Ban glasses was catching on. At the show, the floor was rife with both audio-only and display glasses that promised a future of hands-free and immersive computing. But companies were also starting to correct me on my terminology. "Could you actually stop calling them smart glasses?" they'd ask in person and over email. " We think of them as AI glasses.""
2025 marks a turning point in wearable technology as companies repurpose wearables from fitness-centric tools to platforms for on-device and ambient AI. Smart glasses, rebranded as AI glasses, exemplify the shift by offering audio-only and display variants for hands-free, immersive computing. Tech firms emphasize AI capabilities rather than earlier smart-glass framing. The category expansion includes AI fitness coaches and AI pendants, positioning wearables as vehicles for continuous AI assistance across activities. Market momentum and consumer interest in hands-free interfaces are driving investment and experimentation in AI-first wearable form factors.
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