I tried a prototype pair of smart glasses that switch traditional speakers with xMEMS solid‑state drivers and an ultra‑thin active cooling system. The outcomes were immediate: lighter frames and clearer voice audio, and less heat build-up from the circuitry. It’s not wearables’ final word, but it is a step toward a smoother, more willing-to-wear generation of eyewear.
Solid-State Speakers Shrink Bulk Without Killing Their Clarity
xMEMS’ micro loudspeaker, referred to as Sycamore internally, swaps the familiar coil, diaphragm, and magnet for a silicon MEMS actuator. The firm claims it’s about 70% smaller and 90% lighter than a comparable dynamic driver. The difference is plain to see in hand, as on face. As gadgetry, they feel more like regular eyewear than most frames.
The solid-state driver will never flood you with bass in open‑ear audio the way bounded earbuds do, but its speed and coherence enable it to outstrip its weight for spoken content. The Sycamore unit gave clear mids and intelligible talking in my tests with music, podcasts, and vocal notes, lacking the slimy resonance exhibited in temple-embedded small speakers. You’ll never dump your audiophile gear, but you’ll feel comfortable enough to call, follow turn‑by‑turn commands, and converse with your helper.
xMEMS sets this tech, at least, in practical conditions: alerts, messages, navigation, and podcasts. If you expect something else, you’ll have ample room and weight left for whatever else your device must carry.
Active cooling keeps performance up despite heat
Heat is the silent killer of wearables. Existing glasses usually dial back performance when things heat up, which slows down processing or removes features to keep within skin‑safe parameters. Consumer safety standards like IEC 62368-1 keep sustained contact temperature reasonable—typically in the low 40s Celsius for comfort—which can force compromises when recording videos, performing AI tasks, or working with a bright display.
xMEMS’ solution is μCooling, a teeny-tiny “fan‑on‑chip” actuator that sucks in cool air and spits out the warm stuff much like you’d find in a laptop, minus the audible frying-pan sizzling white noise you’re used to hearing.
In a separate test of the headphones, the impact was immediate: no clammy heat radiating around the ear pads and zero audible whine. With glasses, active airflow opens up headroom for compute bursts, sensors, and displays without exceeding thermal comfort zones.
Why it matters so much right now: Waveguide displays, on‑device AI, and video capture are all adding heat. Market observers like those at Bloomberg and TF International Securities have said that smartphone manufacturers are looking into “louder” thermal solutions such as vapor chambers in upcoming flagship models. On‑face devices feel that pressure even more, and μCooling is engineered specifically to manage that constraint.
Hitting that 30-gram smart eyewear comfort sweet spot
Weight is the line between “fun demo” and “all‑day wear”. xMEMS executives point to approximately 30 grams as a comfort target for smart eyewear, which is on par with many prescription frames. To put that number into perspective, the popular camera‑equipped models hover at about 50 grams. Every gram the receiver takes out of speakers, heat sinks, or brackets can be allocated to battery, radios, or display optics—without going beyond the comfort zone.
The prototype frames I wore during my trial were without some production‑ready components, but the theme is clear. By omitting smaller speakers and a built-in microblower, there’s plenty of space to play with in the temples, so designers may be able to tip some weight forward toward the ears and away from the bridge. Better balance means fewer slips and pressure points, things that can be just as important as raw grams on a scale.
Audio expectations and real‑world smart glasses use
It’s worth setting fair expectations. Open‑ear glasses aren’t your bass monsters. The acoustic leak is not a vendor miss—physics, rather. This setup seems to do particularly well for clarity at conversational levels in noisy environments, low leak to bystanders, and steady intelligibility for assistants and calls. That’s the daily routine for most smart glasses owners—and where solid‑state drivers truly excel.
There’s a knock‑on benefit too: simpler driver architecture may be more reliable; there isn’t the “mechanically susceptible noise” that results from voice coils; and you’re moving toward monolithic silicon structures. Less chunky components and less glue are wins for manufacturing accuracy, as well as long‑term robustness.
What to watch as smart glasses adoption gets underway
What remains to be answered now is how integration and cost will shake out. And component wins are relevant only if the ecosystem buys into them. Today, existing players in wearables, eyeglasses, and mobile silicon will also balance BOM impact, acoustic tuning, and industrial design freedom against the status quo. If xMEMS can keep power draw down and fan noise to a minimum while keeping the IP ratings, there’s going to be quick interest from companies pushing toward thinner frames with displays.
The bigger trend is clear: in two years we have jumped past audio‑only frames to ones with waveguide UIs, live translation, and on‑device AI. Factor in solid‑state audio and silent active cooling, and the next generation starts to look less like a compromise and more like everyday eyewear that just so happens to compute. After some hands‑on time, I believe the pieces are finally small, cool, and clear enough that you might just want to make that leap.