Google reveals plans to try again with smart glasses in 2026

Google plans to launch smart glasses powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in 2026, after its previous high-profile attempt to enter the market ended in failure.

The tech giant set expectations high in 2013 when it unveiled Google Glass, touted by some as the future of technology despite its strange appearance with a bulky screen positioned above the right eye.

Google pulled the product in 2015, less than seven months after its UK release, but now plans to re-enter the market with sleeker-looking smart glasses.

But this comes after Meta has already made waves with its smart specs, which sold two million pairs in February.

Google’s new technology will allow users to interact with its own AI products, such as its Gemini chatbot.

It plans to launch two different varieties: one designed to provide assistance without any type of screen and another with a display on the glasses themselves.

While claiming that the first of the two types of AI glasses it is working on would arrive in 2026, Google has not given more information on what form it will take.

Tech analyst Paolo Pescatore told the BBC that the tech company “must avoid the pitfalls of its previous failed attempt.”

“This decision was arguably ahead of its time, poorly conceived and poorly executed,” he said.

“Now is an opportune time, thanks to the success of Gemini.”

Google will also have to contend with Meta, which unveiled its own AI-powered glasses earlier this year, after building on its existing collaborations with luxury eyewear brands Ray-Ban and Oakley.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, the sector saw a surge in the first half of 2025, driven by demand for Meta devices and the launch of similar products by smaller brands.

Sales of AI glasses increased by more than 250% compared to the previous year.

Google Glass was launched in 2013 as a pair of thin, wired glasses with a large straight arm to accommodate a built-in camera in the corner of the right lens.

Wearers could use the camera to take images and record their surroundings, while simultaneously interacting with a digital display.

The device generated a lot of excitement when it first appeared at a Google event in June 2012.

But after its launch the following year, concerns about its impact on privacy, risks of abuse, and questions about its style and usefulness arose – and grew until Google Google announced that it would stop making them in this form in 2015.

A revamped version, Google Glass Enterprise, appeared two years later but retired in 2023.

Former BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones was among those who considered Google’s device in its initial form “a failure”.

The success of so-called portable computers, he wrotewould likely depend on the availability of the technology needed to bring their potential to life and whether they are “both attractive to wear and so easy to use that you forget you’re wearing them.”

Now, tech giants have tried to make AI and smart glasses more wearable by partnering with designer eyewear brands – and can pack more power and features into smaller, sleeker frames.

But concerns remain about privacy and usability.