Smart glasses face uphill struggle for adoption

Shipments of smart glasses are unlikely to exceed 10 million a year until 2018, according to a report from Juniper Research.

The report, Smart Glasses: Consumer, Enterprise and Healthcare Strategies and Forecasts 2014-2019, blamed a combination of lengthy time-to-market and lack of a key consumer use case for low levels of shipments and adoption in the smart glasses space.

Juniper Research expects sales to be boosted somewhat by releases from key players in 2015-2016, including Samsung, Recon Instruments and Osterhout Design Group. At this point, greater utility within the enterprise and healthcare segments is likely to act as a spur on development until the devices win acceptance outside these markets, it concludes.