The technology is becoming a commodity. The experience is the differentiator. Gigantic Playground is the experience agency designing what brands sound like, feel like, and behave like in a voice-first world.

“Conversational AI is the biggest UX change since the web. We are thinking beyond the screen now, every experience will need a voice enabled experience layer in the AI era.”

— Michael Maginnis, CEO, Gigantic Playground

Meta AI Glasses: voice gets a body

Ray-Ban Meta sold over a million pairs in 2024,1 and Meta’s AI experiences now run on Llama 4.2 Glasses turn voice AI into something always-on, hands-free, and contextually aware of what you are looking at. For our clients, this is the thinnest line yet between a brand and a customer’s daily field of view.

Early use cases are already concrete: real-time translation, hands-free capture, voice-driven calls and messages, and “tell me what I’m looking at” vision queries for shoppers, travelers, and field workers.3 Meta has put two Super Bowl spots behind the form factor in two years, a level of marketing investment that signals a platform, not a niche product. EssilorLuxottica is scaling Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta in parallel, with Apple, Samsung, and the rest queuing behind. The form factor strips away the screen and the app icon. The brand has to live in tone, response time, and how the AI handles silence.

Meta’s “Hey Meta, Who Eats Art?” Super Bowl LIX spot — Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, and Kris Jenner using Ray-Ban Meta to identify Maurizio Cattelan’s $6.2M banana.

Where it matters: retail wayfinding and “what am I looking at” product discovery, hands-free training and field service, accessible audio descriptions in museums and venues, branded audio companions in entertainment.

“If your brand has a physical space, somebody is about to walk through it wearing AI on their face. The question is whether you’ve designed for them.”

— Matthew Morey, CTO, Gigantic Playground

Alexa+: a platform shift inside the home and the store

Alexa+ rolled out to all U.S. Prime members in February 2026 as Amazon’s first true generative voice assistant.4 The Multi-Agent SDK is the unlock: brands can now run their own conversational agent alongside Alexa, with native handoff.5

GP is the Amazon Devices Experience Agency of Record. We designed the Store-within-a-Store at Nebraska Furniture Mart and built the orchestrator that ties devices, lighting, and screens into a single demo. We are already shipping conversational retail. The Multi-Agent SDK extends that work into the home.

“Meet the new Alexa” — Amazon’s introduction to Alexa+, the generative-AI upgrade that turns the assistant from command-response into multi-turn, agentic conversation.

Where it matters: branded multi-agent experiences inside Alexa+, voice-enabled in-store activations that drive online shopping/shipping instantly, Alexa Smart Properties for hotels and stadiums, and Rufus, now Alexa+ agentic shopping commerce flows that convert in real time.

Tesla, Grok, and the in-car voice race

The car is becoming the most opinionated voice platform on the road. Tesla rolled “Hey Grok” hands-free voice into its fleet via xAI.6 BMW’s iX3 launches with Alexa+ in H2 2026.7 Mercedes MBUX 4th Gen runs Microsoft, Google, and Cerence AI across 25 languages with emotional speaking styles.8 SoundHound debuted agentic voice commerce for vehicles at CES 2026.9

The OEMs have the platform. They do not have the brand voice. That is the gap.

BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant with Amazon Alexa+ — the first automaker to integrate Amazon’s generative-AI assistant directly into the vehicle, debuting in the iX3.

Where it matters: branded in-vehicle personalities for OEMs and their tier-one suppliers, voice-driven commerce from the driver’s seat (parking, fuel, food, tickets), co-branded experiences between automakers and the brands their customers already love.

Where we can help

Five places we are already working, and where we are looking for the next conversation:

  • Retail. Voice-enabled in-store experiences and Alexa+ integrations. Extends our SWAS work for Amazon Devices. Retail is 21.2% of the conversational AI market.10
  • Mobile/Web apps. Every digital experience and mobile app in your portfolio will need a voice layer. We design the moments where voice actually beats a tap.
  • Automotive. Branded in-vehicle voice experiences for OEMs, tier-ones, and the brands riding shotgun.
  • Entertainment. AI characters for attractions, events, and branded activations. The creative frontier and the place a great experience travels furthest.
  • Hospitality. Voice experience design for hotels, stadiums, and venues, anchored on Alexa Smart Properties and beyond.

“The technology is commodity. The experience is the differentiator. That is the entire job.”

— Lindsey Harris, CXO, Gigantic Playground

Talk to us

If you have a voice problem, a platform decision, or a prototype you want to ship in 90 days, we should talk.

Start a conversation →

Sources

  1. Android Central — Meta sold over 1 million units of Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2024
  2. Android Central — New Meta AI app provides a Llama 4-powered challenge to Gemini
  3. Meta — New Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses Styles and Meta AI Updates
  4. TechCrunch — Alexa+, Amazon’s AI assistant, is now available to everyone in the US
  5. Amazon Developer — Introducing AI-native SDKs for Alexa+
  6. CNBC — Tesla and xAI’s Grok shows promises and risks of AI chatbots in cars
  7. BMW Group Press — BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant expanded to include Amazon Alexa+ technology
  8. Cerence — Cerence powers voice and AI-driven features in next-generation Mercedes-Benz MBUX
  9. SoundHound — CES 2026: SoundHound AI Unveils Agentic Voice Commerce for Vehicles and TVs
  10. Grand View Research — Conversational AI Market Report