Tal Bar-Or, Founder and CEO of AI listening to eyewear startup Altina, says huge tech is constructing sensible glasses the fallacious approach – and mainstream adoption will stay out of attain till the trade places design first.
Smart glasses are having a second. Meta’s Ray-Ban line shipped 6.5 million models in 2025. Google confirmed Android XR audio glasses for autumn 2026, partnering with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Amazon’s Echo Frames have been available in the market for years.
Yet stroll down any road and also you not often see somebody sporting a pair.
Tal Bar-Or, Founder and CEO of Altina, is aware of why. He labored on Echo Frames at Amazon earlier than founding his personal startup. He has watched huge tech pour assets into sensible glasses — and miss the identical fundamentals every time.
“They’re compromising on privacy, compromising on style and fashion,” Bar-Or advised UC Today. “I think it’s only really a half step from what I’ve seen.”
Design Like Eyewear, Not Like a Gadget
Bar-Or’s argument is easy. Smart glasses have to compete with common glasses on their very own phrases – aesthetically and virtually – earlier than any know-how layer issues.
One ignored problem is bodily match. Traditional opticians provide hundreds of body kinds to swimsuit completely different face shapes. Most sensible glasses manufacturers provide a handful.
“A nose in Europe is different than a nose in East Asia,” Bar-Or stated. “If you put glasses made for somebody in Europe on a face of somebody in East Asia, they’re just going to slide off.”
Altina has no electronics within the entrance body — a deliberate alternative that permits far better selection in kinds and sizing.
Hearing Enhancement because the Killer Use Case
Rather than chase the “replace the smartphone” narrative – a imaginative and prescient Bar-Or noticed fail first-hand at Magic Leap – Altina is concentrated on listening to enhancement. Beamforming microphones assist wearers concentrate on voices in noisy environments.
“There will be a reason for them to wear our glasses,” he stated. Privacy issues already canine camera-forward opponents, making a non-camera method more and more engaging.