ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Intelligent Eyewear from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster is available for preorder now.
- They run on Google’s Android XR platform and feature cameras for content capture.
- There’s a strong focus on security, privacy, and how Gemini handles your data.
I remember it like it was yesterday: Google and Samsung announced in a private auditorium that the two were collaborating on smart glasses, tapping Warby Parker and Gentle Monster to style the wearables in an effort to compete with the increasingly popular Ray-Ban Meta.
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At the time, all the attention was on the unique and chic designs that the two glasses makers could present. There was a quiet agreement in the room that Google and Samsung would nail the software end of things, synergizing the “Intelligent Eyewear” with Pixel and Galaxy phones, and likely other brands.
However, the preorder launch of the Android XR smart glasses today is set against a very different backdrop: privacy concerns and the question of how another big tech company like Google will tackle the ongoing security and privacy issues of camera-equipped wearables.
Designer glasses for everyone
I don’t think anyone questioned why Google and Samsung would partner with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster for their first Intelligent Eyewear lineup. There’s a meaningful audience size for both brands, and the range may be just wide enough to surpass what Ray-Bans have already covered.
I tried virtually every style the brands offer, and there’s no denying that the thicker black-frame design is the most prevalent, whether you prefer it more rounded or squared. You can even opt for a pair from Gentle Monster that’s similar to the Maison Margiela but in pink or beige. It’s certainly achoice.
Notably, there’s a lack of thinner frames, like the dumb pair of glasses I wore to my briefing, but I’ll blame technological development and the laws of physics for that. For now, you’ll have to settle for the bulkier design of these camera-equipped smart glasses.
Overcoming the hardware limitations
Whether you pick up a pair of Intelligent Eyewear from Warby Parker or Gentle Monster, two hardware aspects are certain: an LED indicator that blinks when you take a photo or record a video, and a physical power switch that turns everything off, microphones included.
Like the Ray-Ban Meta, Google says its smart glasses will disable content capture if they detect any tinkering or covering of the LED indicator. While that’s a promising first step, only time will tell how reliable the built-in defense mechanism is, as private parties continue to play cat and mouse, finding new ways to bypass the LED indicator before companies like Meta and Google patch them.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
“We’re also going to leverage our properties to discourage the purchase of these services,” Juston Payne, Senior Director of Product Management, XR, told me. “We won’t allow them to promote their services with Google AdWords, nor will we ever sell them on Google Shopping.” This is one area where Google can truly flex its business size, and it hopes others will follow similar practices.
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Payne tells me Google is also planning video takedowns and demonetizing any recorded content on its platforms, such as YouTube, that’s flagged as harassment or unwanted sexualization of people. It’s an extended measure that should discourage smart glasses users from engaging in any malicious activities.
It’s all about Gemini
To no surprise, Google’s AI assistant, Gemini, is the main driver behind the Intelligent Eyewear experience, whether it’s used to read aloud incoming text messages, leverage the cameras to identify landmarks, add events to your calendar, or give recommendations for the restaurant you’re trekking to.
I tested Gemini Live and its multimodal capabilities as I walked down the Hudson River, and the experience was mostly smooth, starting with a Google Maps navigation to a nearby cafe. Since Gemini Live runs in the background, I was also taking calls on Google Meet, responding to text messages, and asking general questions about places and things happening around me.
How Gemini functions in smart glasses has also been slightly altered to enable more optimal translations. At one point, the assistant was translating between two languages as I shifted from one speaker to another.
What’s different here is that Google is using an LLM that picks up the speaker’s voice and proactively learns their dictation as they talk. The result is some mistranslations at the start of the conversation that progressively improve in accuracy. I’m assured that Gemini will only improve itself as it recognizes certain speakers and voices.
With how many things Gemini can do, especially when it’s actively listening to you during a Live conversation, the audio-only experience can feel quite overwhelming. At one point, I wasn’t sure whether the assistant was answering my question or giving me the latest navigation step, and there was no visual cue (as there would be on a pair of smart display glasses) to suggest that I was on the right path.
In those cases, you’ll have to go through the friction of checking your phone’s Gemini chat log or other active apps. I wore a pair of Gentle Monster glasses paired with an iPhone 17 Pro, by the way, so the cross-platform support is great to see. I’m sure some people may see the Google or Android branding on the glasses and assume they don’t work with their iPhones, but they do.
How Gemini handles your data
Google is taking a multistep approach to protecting your Gemini interaction data, and that would be a big deal if true.
For one, photos and videos used for multimodal queries are not saved in your Gemini history or used for AI training or ad targeting. To help, the company is expanding its Private AI Compute to cover any data that needs to be processed in the cloud, though it is marked as “coming soon,” much like Meta’s upcoming private server tech.
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The glasses are also designed to cover up faces and focus on your voice when you’re recording any video or live content, so Gemini can avoid overprocessing ambient data. Lastly, you can control which apps the glasses can sync with and access, so you can connect your calendar app to add events and reminders, but omit your email app.
The bottom line (for now)
There’s no denying that Google is taking security and privacy very seriously with the new Intelligent Eyewear launch. It has to, after all the backlash surrounding camera-equipped smart glasses over the past few years.
The big question is how the companies — Samsung, Warby Parker, and Gentle Monster — approach marketing and advertising the glasses to the public. Will it be centered around the fashionable nature of the wearables, how they’re potentially safer to use than what’s already on the market, or a bit of both?
The new Intelligent Eyewear lineup is available for preorders today, starting at $395, and will be available for sale on Dec. 10.
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