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Amazon is introducing its next version of smart glasses, as attention around the technology once again heats up across the industry. This time, the focus is on aesthetics, with the functionality still centred on Alexa, Amazon’s artificially intelligent voice assistant — which just got a big upgrade.
The focus on style was in response to customer requests, says Jean Wang, director of the smart eyewear division at Amazon, with the new frames coming in seven styles. Two styles, called the Carrera Smart Glasses with Alexa, were designed in collaboration with Carrera Eyewear of Safilo Group, which also produces eyewear for brands including Marc Jacobs and Carolina Herrera. The others are updates to the original Amazon Echo Frames, first introduced in 2019. Prices range from $269.99 to $389.99; people can sign up on EchoFrames.com to be notified when pre-orders are available, and distribution will include Safilo’s traditional wholesale distribution channels as well as online via Amazon.
Will people wear them? The new glasses look less techy, with smaller temples and improved details such as the battery life, material and sound and speech processing technology. Amazon also added a few more features such as the ability to filter notifications from only certain people, and the ability to locate misplaced glasses using the app.
Smart glasses and goggles have re-emerged as a hot topic among big tech companies, in part due to Apple’s widely anticipated announcement of its mixed reality headset, Apple Vision Pro, in June. The conversation started in 2014 with Google’s Google Glass, which was widely panned and considered a disappointment among consumers, for whom it was discontinued in 2015 (it is still available for use for commercial purposes). Since then, the march towards smart eyewear has been more slow-going, and has become bifurcated between the more bulky virtual reality and mixed reality headsets, and the more traditional-looking smart glasses, whose functionalities have been relatively limited, due to the limited surface area that makes up traditional eyewear.
Tech companies have invested billions in anticipation of an eventual future in which smart eyewear becomes the next big computing platform, but that has yet to pan out, despite some experts’ predictions that they could replace smartphones and VR headsets to enable digital elements to be seamlessly integrated on one’s field of vision, ranging from more practical information such as directions and the time, to more complex augmented reality content such as digital objects and people.
So far, no smart glasses currently enable AR content, although that is seen as the long-term vision. (Mixed reality headsets, which are considerably bulkier and more expensive, do.) Snapchat’s offering, called Spectacles and initially introduced in November 2016, lets wearers capture short videos. Meta’s, called Ray-Ban Stories, capture short videos with audio cues, and were introduced in September 2021, in collaboration with EssilorLuxottica-owned Ray-Ban (which also makes eyewear for Burberry and Prada). Amazon’s Echo Frames do not offer any video-capture element or any other vision-based functionality; rather, their “smart” capabilities are limited to voice.
The new generation of smart glasses — apart from the extreme reaction to Google Glass — have failed to explode into mainstream ubiquity. According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, less than 10 per cent of the Ray-Ban Stories purchased are used actively by purchasers, even after offering luxury-led designs and an influencer campaign with Kendall Jenner.
For fashion, the opportunity is two-fold: the option to further expand product categories by selling fashionable smart frames, and the longer-term vision to enable content that is compatible with smart glasses. Even people who don’t need glasses might ultimately wear them if they are fashionable and offer more utility.
“With this generation, we really approached the design differently. Instead of looking at technology and seeing how we can fit a great set of customers, we looked at aesthetics and what customers really want in terms of how they want to look and feel,” Wang says. “The face is very precious real estate and the first impression that people have when they meet you.” To accommodate different styles and to work with styles from Safilo Group, Amazon engineers changed the placement of the technology in the glasses. “Packing it into something that can be as discreet as it is and have it look normal is something that our team was really very focused on doing.”
The functionality is based on ambient technology, Wang says. “The tech appears simply when you need it in the moment, and disappears when you don’t. This allows you to be more present in the physical world.” For example, due to open-air audio, people can listen to music wearing the glasses, while still hearing the world around them. People near them do not hear the music.
The frames connect to a wearer’s smartphone using Bluetooth and the Amazon Alexa app, and can be controlled with voice commands and buttons on the temples. In addition to listening to music, people can also make and receive calls, hear text messages read to them and filter messages to only dedicated “VIPs”. Wearers can also converse more conversationally with Alexa, using several new updates that use generative AI, similar to how people can interact with ChatGPT. The functionality also includes the ability to control smart home devices, and shopping commands, like using Alexa to add items to a shopping list.
The frames were announced at the annual Amazon Devices & Services Event, where Amazon announces new products and other updates.
Wang is encouraged by the momentum behind smartwatches and fitness trackers that combine fashion accessories with tech. To that end, Apple Watch has partnered with Hermès and Nike (and eclipsed Rolex sales in 2017) and Oura Ring has partnered with Gucci. “Merging technology with fashion has been something that has become more and more ubiquitous,” she says, noting that these existing wearables “are essentially simple items that have been improved with technology that allows us to get more out of our everyday lives. We believe that eyewear is no different. It is a natural personal accessory that has been around for a long time. Because it’s always there and has access to your key senses, like sight and sound, it makes it truly special in terms of something that we can create something magical out of.”
Amazon’s challenge is in convincing people to wear Alexa, which is awakened with the command, “Alexa”, on their face, due to privacy concerns. To that end, wearers can “mute” the speaker (meaning Alexa is not “listening” for the wake-up command), just as they can mute smart home speakers. “Certainly there are implications when you have something that has recording functionality,” Wang says. “It’s important when those come into fruition that we think about that deeply and offer the right value to feel like that is a great experience to have.”
And despite the renewed interest created by Apple Vision Pro — which are a very different device — it is still too early to see if, and how, smart eyewear will see success. “We are at the tip of the iceberg,” Wang promises.
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