From Back to the Future to Avengers, smart glasses have long appeared on the big screen in many shapes and sizes. Nowadays, the idea of
wearing smart glasses in everyday life is no longer such a distant concept. According to data from Grand View Research, the global smart
glasses market was valued at $1.23 billion in 2022 and is expected to continue to grow in the future. The blooming trend of wearable
technology and the continuous shift toward digitization are key factors for the rise of smart glasses.

Over the years, tech companies have adjusted designs, concepts, and prototypes to nail the perfect smart glasses. While one of the earliest kinds, the Google Glass, failed to achieve modernity and looked like something out of a Terminator movie, newer smart glasses aim to be more seamless. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses — the lovechild of designer brand Ray-Ban and tech giant Meta — are one such
fashionable piece of wearable technology. Housed in a Ray-Ban Wayfarer body (consumers can also choose from the Headliner or Skyler
models), the Ray-Ban Meta is armed with a built-in camera, speakers, and mic for capturing images, recording video, livestreaming,
taking calls, and listening to music.

Meanwhile, other smart glasses feature augmented reality capabilities, displaying information like messages or real-time navigation on
micro-sized screens so wearers can see them through the lenses. Certainly, these types of AR glasses come to mind when we think of
smart glasses in movies. Below, we’ll have a look at some memorable smart glasses appearances in movies over the years and whether or
not we’ll be seeing them in real life anytime soon:

Avengers: Infinity War and Spider-Man: Far From Home – Tony Stark’s glasses

We’ll start with two movies featuring the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s poster tech geek — Tony Stark. As early as the first Iron Man
movie, Tony Stark’s use of his AI assistant-slash-combat-buddy JARVIS has long popularized what we now know as augmented reality,
where users can interact with floating neon blue holograms in thin air. In Infinity War, moviegoers were introduced to another smart tech
from the fictional billionaire and hero: Tony Stark’s sunglasses, which were smart AR glasses, are sleek, fashionable, and could pass as
part of a Ray-Ban collection. In Far From Home, we know that Stark’s shades provide infrared vision, navigation systems, and commands
capable of launching drones and missile strikes. While we certainly don’t need that last feature in a pair of Ray-Bans, having a highly
intelligent assistant and cool holodeck AR features is a welcome quality-of-life improvement. As of writing time, the aforementioned Ray-
Ban Meta glasses will soon integrate artificial intelligence to let you translate speech in real time, help you remember where you parked,
and answer questions about what you see.

Mission: Impossible 2 – Ethan Hunt’s exploding Oakley Romeo

Of course, smart glasses aren’t restricted to billionaires-turned-superheroes — although we argue Ethan Hunt’s many close brushes to
death have put him close to hero status. The Mission: Impossible film franchise is known for a few things: impossible missions (and
heists), Tom Cruise’s daring self-stunts, and extremely advanced technologies. In the second Mission: Impossible film, Ethan receives his
crucial mission through a pair of Oakley Romeos, which he later iconically tosses at the camera to call in the film’s opening credits. At the time of writing, Oakley’s foray into wearable tech was shortlived with the Radar Pace in 2016. However, the new Oakleys made for
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One share the same sporty, wide-lenses silhouette as most Oakley models, so you can still
channel your inner Ethan Hunt — albeit without the AR capabilities just yet.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle – Eggsy’s teleconference glasses

Finally, this may be one of the more realistic depictions of smart glasses in movies. Like Mission: Impossible, the Kingsman films enjoy
their own showcase of advanced, intelligent technologies. For instance, watching Colin Firth stop bullets and other projectiles with his
Kingsman Umbrella was a stylish cinematic experience like no other. In Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Eggsy receives a poorly timed
video conference via his smart glasses while meeting his girlfriend’s parents. Everyone else at the dinner table doesn’t see what he sees,
and this is an AR experience many smart glasses continue to try to replicate. Wearable tech company Vuzix has Zoom, Skype, and Webex
video call support for some of its smart glasses, and the Ray-Ban Meta also has this function. So, it will be much easier to emulate
Kingsman style in the future without the risks or responsibility of saving the world.

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