Can Smart Glasses Stop Being Creepy?

Smart glasses are experiencing a boom, with tech giants and small startups racing for their slice of the pie. However, with growing popularity comes growing concern for privacy, especially due to the ability to discreetly capture photos and videos without the knowledge or consent of people nearby. The main target of criticism is Meta, whose glasses can record images, sound, and video of everything the wearer looks at, writes Wired.

Although Meta has an indicator light that warns passersby about recording, some users have found ways to bypass it. The company recently added anti-tampering features that disable the glasses if someone modifies them. Additional concern was raised by a facial recognition feature called Name Tag, whose existence was confirmed by Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth, and whose code Meta later removed from the app after Wired reported on it. At an event in June 2026, Meta also stated that it is considering adding camera-less smart glasses to its lineup.

Smart Glasses Without Cameras, But with a Microphone That Remembers Everything

While cameras are the focus of criticism, a new wave of devices raises questions about audio surveillance. Gizmodo tested the MemoMind One, smart glasses from Chinese company Xgimi, better known for projectors. For $399, these camera-less glasses come with a monochrome display with a resolution of 640 x 350 pixels per eye and a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits, weighing just 48 grams.

However, what sets them apart is the "Memory" feature, which, when activated, continuously records everything the wearer says while wearing the glasses. The recordings are then sent to a companion app, where, as part of the "Moments" feature included in the $20-per-month Memo+ subscription, they are turned into daily summaries. These summaries provide an overview of conversations, desires, and general goals of the user.

Gizmodo journalist Raymond Wong, who tested the device, described how the summaries contained various information, from casual comments about testing the glasses to the general burden of a workday. In addition to noting work tasks, MemoMind One also tracked general state of mind, noticing fatigue after a long day. Wong noted that most of the recorded content was mundane, but not all of it.

The idea of constant recording is not new in consumer electronics. Devices like the AI pendant from Limitless were designed as always-on recorders that capture everything the user says during the day. Meta acquired Limitless in December 2025, and MemoMind One now continues where Limitless left off, reports Gizmodo.

Industry at a Crossroads

The privacy debate will only intensify as Google and Samsung enter the smart glasses market this year. Apple, according to Wired, could join in 2027, although it reportedly delayed production to address privacy concerns. Smaller brands like Even Realities already produce camera-less glasses, and Solos has introduced frames with a physical cover for camera lenses.

"The fact that this is even a topic of discussion is very good for the industry. If it weren't important, it wouldn't be a focal point, which means we are very close to a critical mass of products on the market," Matt Margolis, vice president of business development at Vuzix, a manufacturer of optics for enterprises, told Wired.

Are Private Smart Glasses Even Possible?

Thorin Klosowski, senior security and privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, highlights a key difference compared to phones: "The fact that they are designed to be unobtrusive is the biggest difference. Someone pointing their phone or camera will be pretty obvious. Even with a phone, you can't completely hide what you're doing."

However, Jitesh Ubrani, research director for consumer devices at International Data Corporation, is skeptical: "I don't think it's really possible to create such smart glasses. There's certainly a market incentive, right? People want such a thing, but at the same time they also want glasses that look normal and like regular glasses."

Stacey Higginbotham and Justin Brookman from Consumer Reports are advocating for a law in the California Senate that would require visible indicators on recording devices and prohibit disabling them. "As technology evolves and has the capacity to collect more and more about all of us all the time, that's where policy has to step in," Brookman told Wired.

Klosowski adds that public resistance this year has been particularly vocal: "All these things this year have been a very loud, expressed resistance that I haven't seen in a while. It seems like people are starting to understand the implications of this."