A pair of AI smart glasses apparently helped start a fight in Iowa last week.

According to police, a man wearing Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses at the Iowa State Fair was confronted by another fairgoer who didn’t like the idea that he might be recording people. Words were exchanged. Then punches.

I’m certainly not recommending getting into a fistfight over your smart glasses. But the story caught my attention for another reason.

People are actually wearing these things.

And I believe we’re getting very close to the point where AI-powered glasses go from an interesting gadget to one of the biggest new consumer technology markets in the world.

Meta Figured It Out First

We’ve been talking about smart glasses for years. Remember Google Glass?

The technology was interesting. The product was weird. People didn’t want to walk around looking like they were auditioning for a science-fiction movie.

Meta Platforms (META) took a different approach. It partnered with EssilorLuxottica (ESLOY), the company behind Ray-Ban and Oakley, and put its technology into glasses people already wanted to wear.

That simple decision may have changed the industry.

Meta now controls roughly three-quarters of the global smart-glasses market, and its Ray-Ban Meta glasses look remarkably normal.

They can take pictures, record video, play music, make calls, translate conversations, and – most importantly – use Meta AI to understand what you’re looking at.

That’s where things get interesting.

Imagine walking around a foreign city and having your glasses translate signs in real time. You’re fixing something around the house and AI walks you through it. You look at a building and ask what it is. Directions appear in front of you instead of forcing you to stare at your phone.

Now we’re talking about something much bigger than a fancy pair of sunglasses.

Here Comes Everybody Else

Big Tech clearly agrees.

Alphabet (GOOGL) is bringing Gemini to smart glasses through its Android XR platform. Google is working with Samsung and eyewear companies including Warby Parker (WRBY), and the first products are expected later this year.

Then there’s Apple (AAPL).

Reports suggest Apple could unveil its first AI glasses as early as WWDC next year. I’d pay close attention to that launch. Apple wasn’t first to the MP3 player, smartphone, smartwatch, or tablet. But it’s made an unbelievable amount of money taking existing ideas and figuring out how to make hundreds of millions of people want them.

Meta has the lead. Google has Gemini. Apple has an installed base of more than 2 billion active devices.

This could get fun.

Other companies aren’t sitting around either. Snap (SNAP) is pushing further into augmented reality with its Specs. XREAL continues to improve its AR glasses. And even OpenAI is reportedly exploring smart glasses as part of its move into consumer hardware.

The market could get big quickly. HSBC has estimated smart glasses could eventually become a $200 billion annual market by 2040. Some longer-term forecasts go even higher.

The investment firm also believes the number of smart glasses users could reach 289 million, an increase of more than 1,800% from 15 million in 2025.

And I don’t think glasses are necessarily the endgame.

Sony (SONY) has even patented technology for a smart contact lens with embedded electronics and a camera. We’re nowhere close to replacing glasses with AI contacts today, but think about the progression.

Desktop computer. Laptop. Smartphone. Watch. Glasses. Contact lens.

Technology keeps getting closer to us.

Next, they’ll be wanting to implant a chip straight into our eyeball.

The Next Smartphone?

I’m not ready to declare the smartphone dead. Not even close.

But I do think smart glasses have something previous attempts at wearable computing were missing: AI.

Before AI, glasses needed screens, menus, apps, and complicated interfaces to be useful. Now you can simply look at something and ask a question.

That changes everything.

It also creates an interesting investment opportunity because there won’t be just one winner.

Meta is my early leader. Alphabet could become a serious competitor as Gemini gets embedded into glasses. Apple could dramatically expand the market once it arrives.

The Picks-And-Shovels Play

I’m also looking one layer deeper.

Qualcomm (QCOM) is developing the specialized chips needed to run AI inside lightweight glasses. Sony supplies advanced Micro-OLED displays. Applied Materials (AMAT) is working with EssilorLuxottica on next-generation optical technology.

And EssilorLuxottica itself is fascinating because it owns the brands and distribution that technology companies desperately need.

That’s usually how I approach a new investment trend.

Don’t just ask who makes the finished product. Ask who makes the chips, displays, optics, sensors, cameras, and other components that everyone will need.

We’re still early. Today’s AI glasses will probably look primitive five years from now, just as the smartphones of 2005 look ancient today.

But Meta has already proven people will wear them. Google is coming. Apple is coming. Billions of dollars are pouring into the technology.

And if AI glasses eventually become our primary interface with artificial intelligence, this won’t simply be another gadget cycle.

It could be the beginning of the post-smartphone era.