A startup has raised $1 million to develop always-on, AI-equipped smart glasses it calls a “second brain,” but what are the ramifications behind the hype?
The Halo X glasses were developed by two Harvard dropouts to record the world at all times — with no shutter snap or green light to indicate to passers-by of the recording. These AI glasses can provide instant recall and suggest the perfect lines to speak, Halo claims. Accessibility features of Halo X include real-time captions. However, the device’s constant recording capability raises risk and presents legal challenges.
What are the Halo X glasses?
The Halo X glasses pair with an app on the user’s phone, which provides the necessary processing power. There is no camera on the glasses; a microphone picks up conversations, and answers are displayed on a waveguide screen. Conversations are end-to-end encrypted and SOC II compliant, Halo says on its website.
Still, recording conversations without the permission of all parties involved is illegal in 12 US states. Companies that make smart glasses will tell wearers to follow local laws in cases like this, said Nikolas Guggenberger, assistant professor at the University of Houston Law Center, in a phone interview with TechRepublic.
“They [companies] also tell you you’re only allowed to use cars in ways compliant with traffic rules,” Guggenberger pointed out.
As Halo co-founder Caine Ardayfio told TechCrunch, it’s up to the user to get consent.
Ardayfio and co-founder Anh Phu Nguyen tested facial recognition glasses on people without their consent last year, combining several different apps on Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses to make it work. One of those apps, PimEyes, removed the developers’ access once it was discovered they were uploading pictures of people without consent.
The company Soniox provides the audio recording in the Halo X glasses, and, Ardayfio said, doesn’t store what it hears. However, it “proactively” offers assistance, Halo said, by transcribing conversations into text and deleting the audio.
Smart glasses can be accessibility tools
For professionals and businesses, smart glasses can offer accessibility benefits like describing the world for people who are blind or have low vision, transcribing conversations for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, or enhancing recall and organizational skills.
“Smart glasses give the opportunity for hands-free access for assistive technologies to help enable a more equitable experience for all,” said Bob Farrell, vice president of solution delivery and CX practices at software testing firm Applause, in an email to TechRepublic. “Wayfinding on environmental visual cues for the blind community, portraying visual cues based on environmental audible inputs for the Deaf community. These technologies will greatly improve the ability to integrate more equitably.”
Meta offers the Be My Eyes feature for its Ray-Ban smart sunglasses, in which a human volunteer provides visual assistance to the wearer. Other companies make smart glasses specifically for accessibility.
In May, Meta released the “detailed responses” setting in the Accessibility features. YouTuber The Blind Life demonstrated the enhanced descriptions and detailed their usefulness for the blind and low vision community. The detailed responses setting can provide details about doorways and other environmental elements to help navigate unfamiliar spaces.
Professionals who use smart glasses should be aware of legal ramifications
Smart glasses with accessibility features can be revolutionary for some. However, recording other people without their consent for any reason could still open up legal questions.
Not including a camera on the smart glasses could reduce some liability. But smart glasses with recording capabilities still capture audio, which can contribute to an identifiable voiceprint that may be classified as biometric data. The company that processes the audio data — not the maker of the smart glasses — could potentially be liable for the use of the data, said Guggenberger.
In July 2024, the Texas Attorney General reached an agreement with Meta to fine the company $1.4 billion for storing images of people’s faces for its now-cancelled facial recognition system. (Meta is allegedly trying again.)
Using smart glasses to reference conversations at work raises ethical and social questions as well.
“It turns every single social interaction we have into a potential meme-ifyable moment,” Guggenberger said. “I don’t just mean going viral on social media, I mean the general chilling effect that happens when we are being recorded.” The chilling effect might make people hesitant to speak freely or naturally.
Always-on devices carry privacy and legal risks
Always-on glasses could create liability in other ways, too, said Athar A. Khan, an attorney at the Law Office of Athar A. Khan, APC.
“A business owner, or someone acting as an ‘agent’ for the business wearing the glasses could create liability for workplace surveillance,” he said.
Other situations — such as triggering federal wiretapping laws by recording a phone call with someone in another state or recording company trade secrets — could expose additional legal risks, according to Khan.
A device that constantly records goes against a common-sense practice of data minimization, said Yelena Ambartsumian, the founding attorney at Ambart Law.
“Virtually every company suffers a data breach, and so the ‘convenience’ offered by note-taking or meeting summary devices need to be weighed against the reality that you are providing a third party with your firm’s confidential and proprietary information, as well potentially the personally identifiable information of third parties,” she said.
Additionally, companies selling smart glasses outside of the US should familiarize themselves with national and European Union laws where applicable.
Ultimately, it might come down to whether a company like Halo or Meta becomes too big to fail.
“If they sell a lot they can price the compliance risks into the product,” Guggenberger said. “[Company decision-makers may say] ‘I guess we will be on the hook for a couple million in damages, but we sold a couple million versions of those glasses, so it’s worth it.’”
Meta has sold 2 million units of Ray-Ban smart glasses between October 2023 and February 2025. It’s too soon to say whether Halo will follow, or whether the trajectory of the Halo X might be more like Google Glass, which was released as a consumer product in 2014 and eventually discontinued.
Availability and pricing
Halo plans to ship its glasses in the first quarter of 2026 for $249 each.
Cloudflare is enabling website owners to charge AI companies to crawl their content.
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