Insta360 has opened its first major store in the United States, marking a significant step for the company. Max Richter, one of Insta360’s co-founders, recently spoke to The Verge about the company’s future plans. Richter discussed experimental glasses that aim to take a different approach compared to companies like Meta, Samsung, or Snap. He explained that Insta360 is not necessarily trying to compete with these companies on features like intelligent functions. Instead, the company is focusing on creating glasses that are primarily designed to make it easy to take high-quality photos and videos, with voice assistants playing a less central role. Insta360 was founded in 2015 in Shenzhen by JK Liu and gained recognition for its 360-degree cameras, which can film in all directions at once. This allows users to choose the framing later, as seen in the recent Insta360 X6 model. The company has since expanded into action cameras, stabilized gimbals for vlogs, and drones through its brand Antigravity. Currently, two hybrid cameras are under development, which Richter describes as sitting between a smartphone and a professional camera. He emphasized that Insta360 is not trying to challenge the dominance of smartphones in photography and content creation. According to the latest data from Counterpoint Research, global shipments of AI glasses increased by 263% in the first half of 2026 compared to the first half of 2025. Screenless models, such as the Ray-Ban Meta, make up 96% of these shipments, with Meta alone accounting for 94% of that share. Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, recently unveiled a third generation of Ray-Ban Meta during the Meta Connect event, held on the night of September 23 to 24. Samsung, on the other hand, is preparing its Galaxy Glasses, with a color screen model expected as early as the end of 2027. These companies are primarily selling their glasses as wearable assistants. In contrast, Insta360 is focusing on image quality, a strength the company has had for over a decade. The company has not yet announced a name, price, or release date for its new glasses, and Max Richter classifies them, along with the hybrid devices, as experimental projects. This approach highlights Insta360’s commitment to leveraging its expertise in high-quality imaging rather than competing directly with the more feature-rich smart glasses currently on the market.