The first smart glasses, and how we got to a $99 pair

1. What were the first smart glasses?

Google Glass, sold from 2013, is the usual answer, but the honest one depends on your definition. If you mean any computer worn over the eyes, the line goes back to 1968, when computer scientist Ivan Sutherland built a head-mounted display that was so heavy it hung from a mechanical arm on the ceiling. Its intimidating look earned it the nickname “the Sword of Damocles”. It was a lab system, not something you could wear down the street.

Through the following decades, researchers kept shrinking the idea. Steve Mann’s EyeTap work combined a camera and a display in front of one eye, recording the scene and drawing on top of it. Those projects were the ancestors, but none was a product you could buy in a shop.

Google Glass changed that. Google sold an “Explorer Edition” prototype to developers for $1,500, with deliveries starting on April 16, 2013, and opened sales to the US public on April 15, 2014. It had a small head-up display, voice commands and a 5 megapixel camera. That combination is why so many histories, and Google’s own AI Overview for this search, call it the first mainstream consumer smart glasses.

2. A timeline of smart glasses, 1968 to 2026

Nine milestones cover the story, from a ceiling-mounted lab rig to a $2,195 AR headset shaped like glasses. Dates and launch prices below come from each company’s own announcement where one was available, otherwise from the sources listed; all were checked October 19, 2026. Launch prices are historical, not today’s prices.

Meta’s figures are launch prices from Meta’s newsroom; for what Meta’s glasses cost now, see our Meta glasses price guide.

3. The display branch: Glass to Ray-Ban Display

Display glasses put text or images in front of your eye, and for most of the last decade they stayed expensive and niche. Google halted Glass Explorer in January 2015 after a backlash over price and privacy, then moved Glass to workplaces as an Enterprise Edition in 2017. Google suspended those enterprise sales on March 15, 2023.

Snap took a similar path. Its Spectacles 4, announced in May 2021, added an AR display but went to developers rather than shops. In 2025 Meta brought a display to a mainstream frame with Meta Ray-Ban Display, starting at $799 including its Neural Band wristband, which reads finger movements as commands. In June 2026 Snap followed with Specs at $2,195.

The pattern is clear from the prices alone: a display still costs several times more than a pair without one. Our guides to smart glasses with a display and to Meta Ray-Ban Display go further into that branch.

4. The camera and audio branch: Spectacles to Ray-Ban Meta

The cheaper branch dropped the screen and kept the camera, speakers or both.Snap’s first Spectacles, unveiled on September 24, 2016 and sold from November 10, 2016 for about $130, were camera-only sunglasses. They were sold at first from Snapbot vending machines. Snap later wrote off unsold inventory, but the format stuck.

Bose went the other way. Bose Frames, announced on December 4, 2018 and on sale in January 2019 for $199, were what Bose called “audio sunglasses”: music, calls and voice assistants from speakers built into the frame. Our smart audio glasses guide covers that category today.

Ray-Ban Stories, launched by Facebook and EssilorLuxottica on September 9, 2021 from $299, put both ideas in one Ray-Ban frame: dual 5MP cameras plus speakers and microphones. Two years later, on September 27, 2023, Meta announced Ray-Ban Meta, again from $299, with a 12 MP camera and the Meta AI assistant. Meta added an Oakley line in 2025. The Ray-Ban Stories vs Ray-Ban Meta comparison and our Snap Spectacles alternatives guide pick up those two lines.

5. What a decade of launches taught the category

• Price decides who buys. Glass at $1,500 was sold as a prototype and ended as a workplace tool. The camera and audio frames that followed launched between about $130 and $299, a range aimed at everyday buyers rather than developers.
• Recording needs to be obvious. Glass drew criticism over people being filmed without knowing it, and the same debate follows every camera frame since. Meta describes a hardwired LED that shows when its glasses record. Whatever you wear, follow consent rules and local law; our recording laws by state guide has the detail.
• Eyewear makers joined in.Google partnered with Luxottica on Glass frames in 2014, and every Meta pair since 2021 has been made with EssilorLuxottica, first in Ray-Ban frames, then Oakley from 2025, and in June 2026 under Meta’s own name, all shaped like ordinary glasses.
• AI changed what “smart” means. From 2023 the selling point moved from the camera to the assistant: asking questions, translating, describing what you see. The AI glasses vs smart glasses guide explains where that line sits.

6. Where $99 camera glasses fit today

The OXIVUE M08 is $99 at checkout ($149 listed) and sits squarely in the camera-and-audio branch. It is not a first or a breakthrough; it is the format that Spectacles and Ray-Ban Stories proved, at a lower price. The M08 has an 8 MP camera in the frame corner, open-ear speakers and microphones, and weighs about 42 g. It is rated 7 hours of listening and 4 hours of calls.

• Capture is deliberate. A photo or clip starts only with a touch on the temple.
• No display. Photos and clips go to the HeyCyan phone app, which also runs translation in 40+ languages. Translated audio is heard only by you, and the other person reads the reply on your phone.
• Not tied to Meta. The app does not need a Meta, Facebook or Instagram account, and there is no subscription.
• Three lenses. Sunglasses, photochromic or clear, in an Italian TR90 frame.

Limits worth knowing before you buy: the M08 does not take prescription lenses, has no published water rating and has no display. Other OXIVUE frames differ (the M02C is rated IP65, the M14 is a wrap shield for cycling and skiing); the comparison page lists every spec side by side.

7. Which branch of smart glasses suits you

Choose by what you want the glasses to do, not by which came first.

• You want to read text or see directions in front of your eye: you need the display branch, and you should budget several times the price of a camera pair.
• You want photos from eye level, calls and music without earbuds: the camera-and-audio branch does this, and the M08 is our everyday option at $99 at checkout.
• You only want audio: a camera-free audio pair avoids the recording question entirely.

If you are deciding whether any of them is worth it yet, our are smart glasses worth it guide sets out the trade-offs plainly. This page is published by OXIVUE, which sells the M08.

One more way to read the timeline: each generation answered a complaint about the one before. Glass was too expensive and too conspicuous, so Spectacles and Bose Frames cut the price and looked like sunglasses. Single-purpose frames felt limited, so Ray-Ban Stories combined a camera with audio. Capture alone was not enough, so Ray-Ban Meta added an assistant, and Meta Ray-Ban Display brought the screen back for buyers willing to pay for it. Knowing which complaint matters to you is a faster guide than any spec sheet.

Shipping, refunds and warranty. Free shipping from $99. US orders typically arrive in 5–9 business days; international orders take 9–14 business days, and import taxes outside the US are paid by the recipient. No refunds except transit damage (replaced or refunded); faults are repaired or replaced under the 2-year warranty; change of mind and unmet expectations are not refundable. See the shipping policy and warranty.

Frequently asked questions