LONDON, June 28 -- A woman browsing a shopping centre in the city knew something was off when a video of herself appeared online. A man wearing what looked like ordinary glasses had filmed her without her knowledge. The footage ran nearly a minute, had been viewed roughly 40,000 times, and was removed from the account only after it asked her to pay for the takedown. The glasses were Ray-Bans. They are, by design, indistinguishable from frames you would find at any optician.

That case, documented in a BBC investigation published in May, is what the smart glasses industry's growth trajectory looks like from street level. Meta's Ray-Ban glasses sold more than seven million units in 2025, more than tripling year-over-year, while the company ...