HTC Brings Its Smart Glasses to the US as Privacy Backlash Grows

HTC Corp. is rolling out its Vive Eagle smart glasses in the US, entering a market where category leader Meta Platforms Inc. is already facing mounting concerns from consumers over clandestine camera recording.

The $499 glasses, which let users have voice interactions with artificial intelligence assistants from Alphabet Inc.’s Google and OpenAI, go on sale Thursday with immediate shipping. They come in two styles: a rounded “Pantos” frame and a Wayfarer-style design. They’re being offered in several colors, including black, brown, red and blue. HTC’s pricing is in line with several models of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, but still more expensive than Meta’s self-branded pairs that went on sale in June for $299.

HTC is entering the fray just before smart glasses co-developed by Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Samsung Electronics Co. are expected to reach shelves this fall. Apple Inc. plans to reveal its own audio-based glasses in 2027, Bloomberg News has reported. Other companies including Snap Inc. and Xreal Inc. will launch glasses with built-in augmented reality displays by the end of the year.

HTC’s new gadget arrives at a time when, particularly in the US, the smart glasses category is facing cultural backlash. Some consumers are wary of being surveilled and recorded in public by wearable hardware that allows for more discreet content capture than a smartphone.

Criticism of Meta’s glasses — which some social media commenters have called “pervert glasses” — has led the company to try and assuage concerns, in part through a privacy-focused advertising campaign. Meta has also stepped up efforts to prevent people from circumventing or tampering with the circular LED that indicates when its glasses are actively recording or snapping photos.

The Vive Eagle glasses will block camera usage if they detect the LED is covered, and people in close proximity can say “stop recording” to immediately end an in-progress recording. They also must remain on your face for the camera to operate: Starting a video and then removing them causes the recording to stop.

“Our glasses aren’t designed for data mining — they’re designed to protect and respect the privacy of the wearer and the people around them,” said Dan McDowell, HTC’s head of enterprise sales and new business, in an emailed statement. He referred to the privacy LED as “effectively foolproof” since it includes both a light sensor and proximity sensor to thwart secret recordings.

The Vive Eagle glasses let users choose between using Google Gemini or ChatGPT as their preferred assistant. To help bolster privacy, HTC uses an enterprise API for both models that offers premium features without requiring customers to log in or provide identifying information. No data is used by the hardware maker itself for AI training, the company said.

The AI assistants can see a wearer’s perspective to provide live translations in dozens of languages. Simple requests like “take a photo” are processed directly on the glasses and are executed in about one second. Those that involve your phone, like playing music, take between three to seven seconds, while cloud-based requests like identifying an object can range from five to 14 seconds. Media stored on the glasses is secured with military-grade encryption, according to HTC.

The glasses feature 12-megapixel cameras capable of taking photos and recording videos in 3K resolution up to 10 minutes in length, with 32 gigabytes of storage included. Their battery can last through as long as 4.5 hours of continuous music playback and offer 36 hours of standby time. They recharge via a magnetic connector and can go from an empty battery to 50% in roughly 10 minutes and fully top off in about 35 minutes.

HTC is also selling a separate $49 power boost accessory, a tiny puck that clips onto the glasses to lend them added endurance — enough for an 80% recharge.

Like competing models, HTC’s glasses can also be used for listening to audio through the speakers on each temple and have a microphone array for voice commands or phone calls. In terms of durability, the glasses meet the IP54 standard for dust and water resistance, meaning they’re able to withstand splashes and light rain but aren’t meant to be drenched in water or submerged.