Google might be interested in smart glasses for the first time since Google Glass, but it’s not particularly interested in saying so—at least not in those exact terms. During the company’s two-hour keynote at I/O 2026, Google talked a fair amount about its future with face-worn wearables, including upcoming collabs with eyewear brands Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, but there was one thing missing: it never actually said “smart glasses.”
Nay, in Google-speak, its new wearable—a pair of glasses with cameras, speakers, and AI—are “intelligent eyewear.” Hell, by Google’s estimation, these smart glas—er, intelligent glasses—aren’t even camera glasses, they’re audio glasses. That’s in spite of the fact that they most certainly have cameras on them that can take pictures and videos—same as the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. It’s not altogether surprising that Google has its own name for smart glasses; big tech companies love to slap their own marketing onto existing categories. Even Meta calls its Ray-Bans “AI glasses,” not “smart glasses.” Apple is almost notorious for rebranding. The Vision Pro, for example, is a “spatial computer” in the company’s lexicon, not an XR headset (it’s definitely an XR headset). Very excited about our progress on Intlligent Eyewear with our launch of audio glasses coming this fall. Amazing hardware from @SamsungMobile and beautiful designs from @WarbyParker and @_GentleMonster_ with the best of @GeminiApp onboard. pic.twitter.com/E58p7fArxj — Sameer Samat (@ssamat) May 19, 2026 Marketing isn’t unusual, but it is interesting that Google, the progenitor of the perennially loathed Google Glass, seems to be making such stark distinctions with its smart glasses, especially in the camera department. I can concede “intelligent eyewear” as a moniker, since it’s basically the same difference as “smart glasses,” but “audio glasses”? I’m not so sure. There are actual audio glasses out there that focus more on playing music and taking calls, and they, by my definition—and most people’s, I would imagine—do most certainly not have a camera on them.
