The public markets are getting excited about a new type of technology adoption: smart glasses.

‍What’s happening:‍

• Multiple publicly traded companies have been ramping up the development of smart glasses technology, which has led to a flurry of new product launches and investments
  

Why it matters:‍

• There is a growing speculation that smart glasses might become the next important computing platform as both augmented reality technology and artificial intelligence continue to increase the underlying capabilities of what smart glasses can do
  

Who is making moves:‍

• Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) recently debuted their new Orion smart glasses which have full colour capabilities and the largest field of view ever developed in augmented reality eyewear
  
• Vuzix (NASDAQ: VUZI) recently announced a strategic investment from Taiwanese technology giant Quanta Computers to accelerate the adoption of their smart glasses
  
• KITS Eyecare (TSX: KITS) previously launched their line of artificial intelligence powered glasses known as Pangolin Smart Glasses which are capable of connecting to the Internet and asking questions to OpenAI’s ChatGPT
  
• Innovative Eyewear (NASDAQ: LUCY) recently launched their Lucyd Lyte smart glasses with Target, which leverage OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology
  

Going deeper:‍

• Meta Platforms has been an early believer in augmented reality technology which initially started with their acquisition of Oculus, co-founded by Palmer Luckey who has since gone on to start the rapidly growing defense tech company Anduril
  
• The applications for smart glasses have also been expanding, with new types of eyewear being developed for ultra specific uses such as healthcare and manufacturing that can benefit from real time accessibility to artificial intelligence and wider fields of view

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