In the last decade, tech companies around the world have been investing in augmented reality (AR) glasses, such as the glasses from Meta, that are already available for commercial use (Meta, 2025). Besides this, several companies, such as China Southern, are already using the technology to their advantage, highlighting the huge potential of AR in a corporate setting (Li, Wang, & Wu, 2022).
Even though widespread use would be expected, not many people own AR technology and AR is often still used mostly at home for gaming, and a third of the users uses it less than once a month (Howarth, 2024). How come the technology became so popular, showed a huge upside potential and seemed ready to disrupt the market, but then could not get footing to be actually used?
A large reason for this could be attributed to the hardware issues of AR technology. As AR glasses are incredibly advanced technology, there are often problems with battery life and screen quality (TechnoLynx, 2024). Additionally, they are often large, not very fashionable and expensive, with Meta’s AR glasses costing up to 330 euros. It makes the technology unattractive to consumers, and technologies like this likely gain from network effects of initial successes. Not getting a lot of footing in the market yet is directly related to its biggest bottleneck: the hardware.
However, it seems that the current hardware issues might get solved. As Aledia, a French tech company, just came out with a new MicroLED that might be a gamechanger in the AR world. The patented technology promises unparalleled readability, image quality, resolution and energy efficiency, possibly erasing some of the current problems with the hardware of AR (Aledia, 2025).
Even though the new MicroLED seems to alleviate some of the pains of modern AR technology, it still needs to be incorporated into actual products, which can take a long time. However, it seems that the future of usable AR is here, and an augmented world is now open.
Sources:
Aledia. (2025, 25 april). Products – Aledia. https://www.aledia.com/en/products/
Howarth, J. (2024, March 27). 24+ augmented reality stats (2024–2028). Exploding Topics. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/augmented-reality-stats#ar-glasses
Kleinpenning, F. (2025, 11 March). Drie trends die de toekomst van Augmented Reality gaan bepalen. TBM. https://tbmnet.nl/3-trends-die-toekomst-van-augmented-reality-gaan-bepalen/ (Picture)
Li, T., Wang, J., & Wu, F. (2022, April 5). How one airline is using AR to improve operations. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/04/how-one-airline-is-using-ar-to-improve-operations
Meta. (2025). Meta AI glasses. Meta. https://www.meta.com/nl/ai-glasses/
TechnoLynx (2024, 7 augustus). Augmented Reality (AR) Problems and Challenges. TechnoLynx. https://www.technolynx.com/post/augmented-reality-problems-and-challenges
