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What are smart glasses?

Smart glasses are eyeglasses with electronics built into the frame: microphones, speakers, often a camera and sometimes a display in the lens. Wearers use them to listen to audio, take photos and video, and talk to an AI assistant.

Also known as: AI glasses, camera glasses, intelligent eyewear

Researched and fact-checked by AI, with no human review. 8 sources listed below. How we verify

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What counts as smart glasses?

Smart glasses look like ordinary eyeglasses but carry electronics in the frame. The Dutch data protection authority describes them as glasses with a camera and a microphone built into the frame, usually connected to the owner's smartphone. It says they also use AI systems. A wearer can ask a chatbot questions, and it draws on images from the camera and sound from the microphone.

Makers and analysts use different names and groupings:

  • Meta calls its products AI glasses. In September 2025 it sorted them into camera glasses, display glasses with a screen in the lens, and augmented reality glasses.
  • Google calls its planned products intelligent eyewear. In May 2026 it listed two types: audio glasses and display glasses.
  • IDC, a research firm, groups shipments into audio glasses with no display, display glasses and headsets.

The labels do not line up. IDC counts Ray-Ban Meta, which has a camera, as audio glasses. Google said in May 2026 that its audio glasses would take photos and video. Meta announced Ray-Ban Meta Audio in September 2026 and called it its first audio glasses. That model has no camera, according to IDC. So the label "audio glasses" does not say whether a pair can record video.

IDC estimated that audio glasses made up 70.3% of shipments of XR (extended reality) headsets and glasses in the second quarter of 2026.

Why does the definition matter?

Norway's data protection authority, Datatilsynet, says the same rules apply to filming with smart glasses as with a mobile phone. A rule aimed at the glasses themselves has to say which devices it covers.

On October 5, 2026, Norway's government said it plans to propose a temporary ban on AI glasses in selected places. It said it would examine which technology the ban should cover, Reuters reported. Reuters listed three options:

  • glasses with a camera and audio recording
  • glasses with a camera and AI functions
  • other body-worn technology with a camera, audio recording or AI

A longer explainer covers prices, sales and the privacy questions.

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Sources

  1. Smart glasses, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch Data Protection Authority)
  2. Meta Ray-Ban Display: AI Glasses With an EMG Wristband, Meta
  3. Introducing Ray-Ban Meta Audio and More AI Glasses Styles, Meta
  4. Intelligent eyewear is coming this fall, Google
  5. Smart Glasses Growth Cools to 35% as Meta Doubles Down on Distribution, IDC
  6. Meta Connect 2026: More Glasses on More Faces, IDC
  7. Bruk av smarte briller, Datatilsynet (Norwegian Data Protection Authority)
  8. Norway to propose temporary ban on AI glasses in some public places, Reuters (via Internazionale)

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