When Does AI Not Add Much Value for Consumer Hardware?

As useful as artificial intelligence is for software, that might not mean it is equally compelling for many types of consumer hardware. 

I always see the display of the Ray-Ban smart glasses when at my optometrist’s office, but that does raise issues: where’s the value? How much added value is there, compared to the extra cost? And for some of us, there are other tradeoffs.

How do smart glasses integrate with one’s prescription lens requirements? How about frame selection? 

One issue with embedding AI into consumer devices is the willingness to pay. Most consumers are careful about paying too much of a premium for such features. The other issue is simply value: it remains unclear whether the features are important enough, on a regular basis, to make the investment worthwhile. 

And then there are the other physical impediments. Until recently, I wore prescription corrective lenses, so it has not been clear whether I’d have the choice of frames I’d prefer, or how much additional cost the corrective lenses feature would add to the smart glasses. 

Use Case	Description
Real-Time Translation	Live translation of speech/text, projected in view
AI Voice Assistant	Hands-free digital assistant for tasks and queries
AR Overlays	Navigation, notifications, and contextual info in the user’s field of view
Object Recognition	Identifies and describes objects, scenes, or people
Accessibility	Features for visually/hearing-impaired users (captions, scene description, hearing aids)
Hands-Free Communication	Dictation, messaging, calls, content capture without hands
Health & Wellness Monitoring	Eye tracking, fatigue detection, and health feedback
Spatial Computing & Gestures	Air typing, gesture-based controls, and virtual interface interaction
Professional/Industrial Use	Workflow optimization, remote support, and real-time data for industry-specific tasks

But similar questions can be asked about embedding AI in most consumer appliances, especially the ones we use most often, including PCs, smartphones, and household appliances. 

Consider the trend of consumers using minimalist phones, for example. Sometimes the AI features are not desired. For many basic household appliances, it isn’t clear that the added AI features add enough value (toaster, kettle, blender). For other appliances, such as audio and video playback gear, users might only want faithful linear performance. 

In many cases, the increased complexity also means higher failure rates, in addition to greater cost. And then there are often battery life issues as well.   

The success rate  for new consumer electronics products is generally low, with failure rates commonly cited between 50 percent and 90 percent, depending on the source and how "failure" is defined. Some studies suggest success rates are as high as 60 percent, and failure rates as low as 40 percent. 

Packaged goods products likely fail at higher rates, perhaps as high as 95 percent. 

So it might not be too surprising that “smart” devices have not yet generally “caught on” with consumers. That noted, smart glasses seem to be faring better than the other alternatives for smart devices that are not PCs or phones. 

Device Type	2024 Installed Base / Sales (Global)	2025/2026 Projection	Notes
AI/AR Smart Glasses	~1.5 to 2 million units sold	10M units/year (by 2026)	Ray-Ban Meta is leading growth3,4,6
US Smart Glasses Users	~13 million (2024)	~14.4 million (2025)	Includes all smart glasses 6
Smart Pins/Buttons	Not reliably reported	N/A	Still niche, early-stage market 6,7