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It's no secret that Apple is investing heavily in smart glasses, with rumors suggesting we'll see AI-powered spectacles in the near future and augmented-reality eyewear a little further out. But have you ever wondered what Apple hopes to accomplish with this push into a whole new segment of wearable tech?Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has a low-down on Apple's plans for smart glasses, claiming that things could follow a similar path to the Apple Watch. Back in 2015, smartwatches were still pretty niche products with minimal mainstream appeal compared to traditional wristwear — much like smart glasses are now.Apple wants to disrupt the eyewear industry
(Image credit: Martin Hajek/ iDrop News/ Shutterstock/ Tom’s Guide)In the same way that a huge drop in watch sales has been attributed to the Apple Watch release, Apple is apparently aiming to do something similar with the glasses industry. The idea is apparently to compete with well-known eyewear brands like RayBan and Warby Parker by leveraging everything that makes Apple products so popular in the first place.This means relying on the strength of the Apple brand, industrial design and the fact that these glasses will support iPhone integration. It's currently unclear what they might offer that you can't get with a rival like Samsung's Intelligent Eyewear. But if the way Apple treats third-party smartwatches compared to the Apple Watch is anything to go by, I'm sure there will be plenty of ecosystem lock-in features only available for the Apple Glasses.And while I personally can't see the appeal of smart glasses, due to the fact that I don't need regular glasses, there are many who do. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 2.2 billion people around the world currently have some kind of vision impairment. That's a big market that reportedly brings in around $200 billion each year. It makes complete sense that Apple would want a slice of that.It all depends on whether the Apple logo will help convince people to wear mini-computers on their faces all day. More importantly, what Apple's stance on Android phones will be, considering how many more Android phones are sold globally compared to iPhones.What to expect from Apple Glasses
