Apple’s new feature opens up the future of smart glasses

The iPhone 16 launch event brought us a very interesting feature: ‘Visual Intelligence’. With this feature, you can turn your iPhone into a ‘mobile information library’. Just point the camera at a dog, a poster or anything you want to know, and your iPhone will automatically search and provide you with relevant information.

This feature is convenient when used with the new camera button on the iPhone. But more importantly, it is a stepping stone for more advanced technologies in the future. For example, augmented reality (AR) glasses, Apple will need tools like this to develop.

With Visual Intelligence, exploring the world around you becomes more fun than ever. Now you can interact directly with everything you see. For example, you are walking around and come across a fancy restaurant. Just look at it and ask the glasses a question, and you will get the necessary information. This is the experience that Apple introduced with the Visual Intelligence feature on iPhone.

Meta has shown us clearly that smart glasses combined with AI virtual assistants can become an extremely useful tool in recognizing surrounding objects. From Meta’s success, it is not difficult to imagine Apple creating a similar product but completed at a much higher level. What is special is that Apple can connect these glasses to all your applications and personal information on the iPhone, making using the image recognition feature more convenient than ever.

Apple already has the Vision Pro, a device that can support cameras. However, because the Vision Pro is quite bulky, few people wear it outside. Moreover, what we have at home is usually enough to do many things. Therefore, there have been many rumors that Apple is developing a more compact AR glasses, similar to regular eyeglasses. This is the ultimate goal that Apple is aiming for this technology.

In fact, Apple’s AR glasses may be a long way off. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman , while there are reports that the product will launch in 2027, experts inside Apple believe the technology is not mature enough to bring the product to users in the next few years.

Although there is no official information, it is clear that Apple is investing a lot in developing software for future wearable devices. The Visual Intelligence feature could be a strategic move, helping Apple create unique and smarter experiences on its smart glasses products. Starting now will give Apple enough time to research and improve this technology before launching it to the market.

This approach isn’t new to Apple. The company has been integrating augmented reality (AR) technology into the iPhone for years before the Vision Pro. While the Vision Pro is more of a VR device than an AR device, it’s clearly a precursor to what could eventually become AR glasses. Along with hardware upgrades, Apple could also continue to refine software features like Visual Intelligence that are already on the iPhone. And when they’re ready, they’ll combine all the best ideas into a single glasses-like product.

Smart glasses could be the next big thing in technology, with big names like Meta and Snap working hard on AR glasses. Google has already shown off prototypes, and Qualcomm is working with Samsung and Google on mixed reality glasses. If Apple were to enter the game with its own smart glasses, Visual Intelligence could be a significant competitive advantage. But first, we need to see Apple do it well on its own iPhones.