Why most AI wearables are still terrible

I still remember the first time I tried on Google Glass. I was 12, and a friend of my parents had just gotten one—I was completely mesmerized. It felt like a glimpse of the future.

More than a decade later, that future never arrived. Instead, we’re surrounded by a graveyard of clever wearables that never quite stuck. So what’s actually missing?

Today, a new generation of AI-enabled wearables is emerging with devices that promise to embed intelligence directly into the objects we carry and wear every day.

And yet, most of what we’re seeing still feels like déjà vu from the early smartwatch era: a mic, a board, and a vague promise of productivity. The focus is on what the device does, not how it lives in the world.

Minimalism Isn’t Enough

Apple’s clean, brushed-aluminum aesthetic domina