Is 2024 the year we will finally see AR wearables as wearable things, as opposed to prototypes or accessories that are more suited to a tech journalist than to your grandmother?

Okay I shall save you the painful reading if you don't care: Probably not. But it's getting there with the next generation of AR glasses, which overlay digital effects onto your view of the real world now being tested in real-world environments by several of the major developers.

And when AR takes over, that will unlock a whole new dimension of new digital marketing and promotional opportunities.

As mentioned above, there are several AR wearable projects in development, but from a social media perspective, the main ones we're paying attention to are those from Meta and Snapchat, with Apple's soon-to-be-released Vision Pro also set to be a factor, depending on take-up.
Although Vision Pro centers much more on the primary challenge of the next step, which is that the cost of production is too high to allow for mass adoption.

The Vision Pro, which will hit the markets within weeks, is retail priced at $US3,499. At that price, no one, outside of Apple fanboys and the super rich are going to buy the device, while Meta has noted similar challenges with its coming AR device.

The company's CTO Andrew Bosworth says in an interview last month that Metas AR glasses prototype is much more advanced. He further adds that he looks forward to seeing some developers get a pair by the end of this year. However, it is still too pricey, way too pricey for most consumers, and that is where Meta will be focusing its efforts in the coming months to reduce the price before a planned consumer launch in 2027.

So, functionally, Meta's feeling pretty confident that it's got a working version of AR wearable, and as it discovers new production efficiencies, and new partnerships which offset the price, that does look very much like becoming a reality at its originally stated target launch date.

Whether it's an entirely new thing or just an advanced iteration of Meta's Ray Ban Stories, that remains to be seen, though Bosworth did also note that Meta's also building a new version of Ray Ban Stories that will incorporate a small heads-up display.
That will not be fully AR, though with the latest iteration of the glasses really taking off, due to the inclusion of live streaming integrated into the device, as well as the imminent rollout of a generative AI chatbot tied to the device, Meta's production pipeline for an AR device should also be well along in the process by the time the next step is taken, which promises well for its transition into the wider metaverse period.
The metaverse doesn't technically integrate AR, as such, even though Meta has binned all of the various technological advances under its metaverse banner, including AR, VR, and AI to one extent or another. It's still a longer-term bet-the metaverse itself-but one I do think will pay off but won't particularly clarify itself till the 2030's, to the point of relevance, when the next stage of digital natives, who've grown up in spaces like the metaverse, are ready for the workforce.

AR will be the precursor to that, and while not necessarily related to the metaverse per se-which is, of course, VR-based-there are components that bleed over, such as 3D elements that exist within an environment and digital experiences that envelop a user.

The advent of AR will usher in a new frontier for marketing and promotional concepts and includes ideas such as ad displays when someone views a storefront window, as well as discount offers shared with consumers as they walk by.

This is a very early AR promotion patent, filed by Snap in 2015. As you see here, in this version, consumers will be able to scan an image in the Snap camera, and relevant promotions show up before them.
 
Imagine integrated into your view of the real world; you can start to imagine possibilities.

Snap is the other player to be reckoned with in this game, as the company filed a number of patents related to AR integration and overlaying digital objects on people's real-world view.
Clearly, many of these were well-designed to work with AR Spectacles. However, higher production costs might be what Snap needs to worry about in this regard, even considering that Snap is already announcing lay-offs and curtailing some projects to cut their research and development liabilities.

As an aside, Snap has said that it is not cutting AR development in response to cost pressures more broadly. However, even for Meta and Apple the scale of the big players already demonstrated development costs are unsustainable and may see both them supersede Snap as leaders in the AR space.

Although Snap remains at the leading edge of effective AR development, especially from a consumer engagement perspective. And Snap does have functional AR glasses that it's been working on with external partners for years.
As such, Snap is still well-placed to have a significant impact, though I increasingly suspect that this will be through partnership, likely with Apple or Microsoft, as opposed to Snap going it alone.

In essence, AR glasses are already here, and already power new experiences. The next stage will be reducing costs and packaging them in a more consumer-friendly bundle so that they can then cause more adoption and usage. But that is coming, and it could be here sooner than you think. So as you outline your ad plan for 2024, and ponder the next step, I do think you should invest in learning AR, as well as AI, so you're ready for the next shift.

Snap has plenty of courses you can do there to learn about AR development, how to create the digital versions of your product, try-on experiences, etc. Also, there's additional learning information on Apple's ARKit while Meta has a selection of useful development overviews within its Spark AR platform.
It's going to take time to get through these elements, so in every way, be sure you are far better placed to comprehend what is next. Also, prepare for the VR future that is going to bring much of this together.