The Vision Council announced the release of Focused inSights 2025: Smart Eyewear, a comprehensive report highlighting consumer awareness, attitudes, and purchasing considerations in the rapidly evolving smart eyewear category.
Drawing on responses from over 4,000 U.S. adults, the report benchmarks awareness and sentiment, explores buying drivers and deterrents, and tracks brand familiarity trends compared to consumer responses reported by The Vision Council in a 2023 report, Focused inSights 2023: Smart Eyewear.
The report uncovers a fast-moving but still emerging market, highlighting where consumer curiosity is translating into real demand and where barriers continue to hold adoption back.
Among the most notable findings:
- Awareness is accelerating– 58% of consumers say they either know exactly what smart eyewear is or have a general sense of it—up sharply from 2023.
- Perceptions are favorable– A majority (56%) report a favorable impression of smart eyewear when presented with a clear definition of potential features (e.g., wireless connectivity, AI, translation, audio).
- Adoption and intent– About one in seven consumers (14%) report having purchased smart eyewear; four in ten say they would consider a purchase in the next 12 months.
- Top motivators vs. barriers– Curiosity (41%), perceived usefulness (39%), and “fun to use” (37%) are leading drivers, while “no clear need/purpose” (50%) and cost (41%) are the principal deterrents.
- Brand familiarity is growing– Awareness gains are broad-based; among brands measured in both years, Amazon Echo Frames and Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses show the largest increases.
- Information sources– YouTube (49%) and other social platforms are the primary places consumers have seen or heard about smart eyewear in the past year.
“Smart eyewear is certainly having a moment right now, with more consumers than ever showing interest in these products. We anticipate that this momentum will continue as more options come into the market. As smart eyewear moves from an emerging to maturing market, tracking consumer sentiment is crucial,” said Alysse Henkel, Vice President, Research & inSights, The Vision Council. “Our findings point to tangible opportunities for manufacturers and eyecare providers to align design, education, and dispensing with what consumers say matters most.”
