Why Big Tech can't quit smart glasses

June 23, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Victoria Song, The Verge’s wearables expert, has tested nearly every pair of smart glasses on the market. She has worn them in Italy, on the New York City subway, and in her own home. Through all of that testing, she has arrived at a clear, grounded conclusion: the tech industry is betting billions on smart glasses as the next computing platform, but the actual killer features are far simpler and more mundane than the futuristic demos suggest. In a conversation with David Pierce on The Vergecast, Song systematically rated eleven potential smart glasses features on a scale of one to five, and the results reveal a striking gap between corporate ambition and real-world usefulness.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:02) **Introduction: The Smart Glasses Paradox** - David Pierce sets up the central question: despite huge technological, social, and supply-chain challenges, most big tech companies are convinced smart glasses are the future.
2 (01:10) **News Segment: Meta's Employee Surveillance & New Glasses** - Quick recap of Meta's troubled week: a canceled employee-tracking AI program, morale issues, and the launch of cheaper "Meta Glasses" (dropping the Ray-Ban partnership).
3 (04:13) **Guest Intro: Victoria Song's Hands-On Context** - The Verge's V Song joins, wearing the new low-nose-bridge Meta glasses, establishing her expertise as a tester of nearly every smart glasses model.
4 (06:02) **The Core Thesis: "Why Can't Tech Quit Smart Glasses?"** - David proposes a game: scoring 10 potential smart glasses features (1-5) to find the real killer apps vs. hype.
5 (07:02) **Feature #1: Navigation (Score: 3)** - Heads-up directions are a "nice to have," not a "need to have."
6 (10:50) **Feature #2: Big-Ass Monitor (Score: 2)** - A niche but passionate use case for "people who bought a Vision Pro and refuse to feel bad about it."
7 (13:07) **Feature #3: Camera (Score: 4)** - The most powerful content creation tool, but also a major social deterrent.

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Guests on this episode

Victoria Song David Pierce

Show Notes

A huge portion of the tech industry has decided that smart glasses are the next big thing. But why? Smart glasses are incredibly hard to make, hugely socially complicated, and require users to want to wear a gadget on their face. The Verge's Victoria Song helps us figure out which features, if any, will make smart glasses worth all the trouble.