The year 2025 marks a significant turning point for wearable technology, shifting its primary identity from health and fitness trackers to sophisticated AI companions. While health monitoring remains a core function, a growing number of tech companies are now positioning wearables as essential conduits for artificial intelligence, promising a more integrated and intuitive digital experience.

This evolution is perhaps most evident in the redefinition of what were once called smart glasses. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the success of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses clearly influenced the market, with numerous companies showcasing audio-only and display-enabled eyewear. These devices are increasingly being referred to not as smart glasses, but as “AI glasses,” signaling a deliberate marketing and technological pivot.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has championed this new terminology, viewing glasses as the optimal form factor for AI integration. The discreet nature of glasses, akin to having speakers on one’s face, allows for seamless interaction with AI, enabling users to capture their surroundings and query AI about the world in real-time, thereby enhancing daily convenience and information access.

This rebranding is not limited to Meta; Google is also differentiating its product categories, distinguishing between AI glasses, XR headsets, and hybrid devices. Google’s vision for AI glasses emphasizes lightweight, stylish designs where interaction with its AI assistant, Gemini, is the primary draw. This indicates a broader industry consensus that AI is the key innovation poised to unlock the full potential of wearable eyewear.

Beyond eyewear, a new wave of always-listening pendants and pins is emerging, designed to act as personal AI assistants. Devices like Amazon’s Bee AI, Friend AI necklace, Plaud NotePin, and Limitless are examples of this trend. These gadgets are intended to be worn throughout the day, using AI to summarize meetings, voice notes, and conversations, and even generating to-do lists based on daily activities.

These AI-powered accessories aim to provide a constant, on-body presence for digital assistance. Friend, for instance, positions itself as an ever-present companion that proactively communicates relevant information about the user’s environment. This focus on continuous AI engagement underscores the drive to embed artificial intelligence deeply into the user’s daily life.

Sandeep Waraich, Google’s product lead for Pixel Wearables, highlighted the unique advantage of wearables as “the only device in our computing lives that is guaranteed on-body presence.” This constant proximity is crucial for AI assistants, which require extensive personal data to function optimally. Wearables offer the ideal platform for AI to be present and accessible 24/7, moving beyond the need to constantly interact with a smartphone.

The growing association between wearables and AI is an undeniable trend, driven by the perception of wearables as the ultimate vehicle for AI’s pervasive integration into human lives. As long as technology companies see this symbiotic relationship, this trend is expected to continue its upward trajectory, fundamentally reshaping the future of personal technology.

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Keywords: AI wearables, smart glasses, AI glasses, wearable AI, AI pendants, AI pins, future of wearables, AI assistants