Two former Harvard students, AnhPhu Nguyen and his co-founder, are set to revolutionize personal technology with the launch of their innovative “always-on” AI-powered smart glasses. These glasses will listen to, record, and transcribe conversations in real time, displaying relevant information directly to the wearer. Halo, the startup, is on a mission to amplify human intelligence with technology. It provides an exciting new resource that bridges the gap between real-life transactions and virtual support.
The smart glasses will be available for pre-order starting Wednesday for $249. They also need a smartphone, which they use to deliver commercially valuable, real-time information alerts and responses to user questions. During demo day, Nguyen shared his lofty vision behind the product.
“Our goal is to make glasses that make you super intelligent the moment you put them on,” said Nguyen.
Along with delivering on-the-ground support, the glasses will include end-to-end encryption, protecting the privacy of activists’ data. This part addresses issues of privacy and data security. In our increasingly digitized world, the information we share about ourselves is more exposed than ever before.
Nguyen created a facial recognition app for Meta’s new smart Ray-Ban glasses. This project generated a high level of ethical discourse around privacy and data use. The app showed how powerful this technology could be, for example, by identifying people and finding extensive personal information in seconds. A hands-on demo video released this week highlighted some of the glasses’ features, such as automatic face detection and quickly pulling up relevant information from a database.
Caine Ardayfio, the other integral figure in developing the glasses, explained how the AI piece works. He described how the device is constantly listening and how it can have smart conversations with you about complicated questions.
“If somebody says a complex word or asks you a question, like, ‘what’s 37 to the third power?’ or something like that, then it’ll pop up on the glasses,” Ardayfio noted.
Just the introduction of these smart glasses has caused alarm among privacy advocates. Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, voiced her apprehensions regarding the implications of an always-on recording device. She argued that this technology would erode societal expectations about government surveillance and privacy.
“Small and discreet recording devices are not new,” Galperin acknowledged. “But I think that normalizing the use of an always-on recording device, which in many circumstances would require the user to get the consent of everyone within recording distance, eats away at the expectation of privacy we have for our conversations in all kinds of spaces.”
Nguyen’s view of privacy harms goes beyond the worry of future abuse. He emphasized his worries that personal data could be easily and widely weaponized by bad actors.
“Some dude could just find some girl’s home address on the train and just follow them home,” he said.
Though these criticisms may find merit, Nguyen and his team have a lot of faith in users to not misuse the technology. Ardayfio highlighted the need for user accountability and agency in cases where consent should be required by law.
“We trust our users to get consent if they are in a two-party consent state,” he stated.
The smart glasses promise to deliver functionality reminiscent of science fiction scenarios, with Ardayfio describing their potential as “the first real step towards vibe thinking.” This idea captures an exhilarating and sometimes dizzying prospect—one in which technology and its accompanying cognitive and social affordances deeply synergize.
Pre-orders have officially begun! Now, we can only wait and see how consumers will respond to this pioneering technology—particularly as worries over privacy and responsible use of AI are at an all-time high. Halo’s smart glasses are on track to flourish into an everyday accessory. Finding the correct equilibrium between innovation and individual privacy will be key.