Harvard Dropouts Preparing to Unveil AI Smart Glasses That Constantly Listen and Record Conversations

Two former Harvard students are preparing to launch a pair of AI-enhanced smart glasses that are always on, actively listening, recording, and transcribing every conversation, while concurrently providing the wearer with pertinent insights in real time.

“Our goal is to develop glasses that immediately boost your intelligence as soon as you wear them,” said AnhPhu Nguyen, co-founder of Halo, the startup behind this groundbreaking technology.

Co-founder Caine Ardayfio described these glasses as offering “infinite memory.”

“The AI captures every discussion and uses that information to inform your replies… similar to an IRL Clue,” Ardayfio explained to TechCrunch, referring to a startup that helps users “cheat” in situations like job interviews and exams.

“If someone mentions a complicated term or asks a question, such as, ‘What’s 37 to the third power?’ it will be displayed on the glasses,” Ardayfio added.

The duo has raised $1 million to further develop these glasses, led by Pillar VC, with contributions from Soma Capital, Village Global, and Morningside Venture. The glasses will retail for $249, and preorders will start on Wednesday. Ardayfio described the glasses as “the first genuine step toward vibe thinking.”

These two Ivy League dropouts have moved to a Hacker Hostel-inspired environment in the San Francisco Bay Area. They recently stirred interest by creating a facial-recognition app for Meta’s smart Ray-Ban glasses to demonstrate the potential misuse of such technology for doxing individuals. As a likely early competitor to Meta, Ardayfio pointed out that Meta’s previous security and privacy challenges may limit their product in ways that Halo could take advantage of.

“Meta doesn’t have a strong track record regarding user privacy, and launching a product that is continuously present — while providing substantial utility — poses a significant reputational risk that they might choose to avoid until a startup proves its viability,” added Nguyen.

However, Nguyen raises a fair point, as users may not have enough reason to trust the technology from two young college dropouts claiming to equip individuals with covert recording tools.

While Meta’s glasses have an indicator light to show when cameras and microphones are active, Ardayfio noted that the Halo glasses, called Halo X, will not feature any external signals to indicate recording.

“For the hardware we are building, we aim for discretion, similar to everyday glasses,” explained Ardayfio, who stated that these glasses will record, transcribe, and then delete the audio files.

Privacy advocates have raised alarms over the growing acceptance of covert recording devices in public areas.

“Small, discreet recording devices are not a new idea,” said Eva Galperin, the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to TechCrunch.

“In some ways, this is akin to a more advanced version of the microphone spy pen,” Galperin added. “Nevertheless, normalizing the use of an always-on recording device, which typically requires consent from all parties involved, undermines the privacy expectations we usually have for conversations in various settings.”

Certain U.S. states prohibit covertly recording conversations without consent. Ardayfio acknowledged this reality, asserting that it is up to their clients to secure the necessary permissions before using the glasses.

“We expect our users to ensure consent is obtained if they are in a two-party consent jurisdiction,” remarked Ardayfio, referencing regulations in various U.S. states that require agreement from all parties being recorded.

“I would also have significant concerns about the storage and access of the recorded data,” Galperin added.

Ardayfio explained that Halo collaborates with Soniox for audio transcription, which asserts that it doesn’t keep recordings. Nguyen claimed that once the product launches, it will feature end-to-end encryption but provided no further details on implementation. He also mentioned that Halo is pursuing SOC 2 compliance, indicating an independent audit and commitment to customer data protection standards, but did not specify a timeline for achieving this compliance.

Nonetheless, these students are not unfamiliar with privacy-related controversies.

During their time at Harvard last year, Ardayfio and Nguyen created I-XRAY, a demo that integrated facial recognition into the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, demonstrating how easily such technology could be embedded into a device not designed for identity recognition.

While the duo never published the code for I-XRAY, they tested the glasses on unsuspecting people without their consent. A demo video showcased the glasses identifying faces and revealing personal information about strangers rapidly, highlighting the reactions of individuals who were doxxed.

In a discussion with 404 Media, they acknowledged the implications: “Someone could easily discover a stranger’s home address on the subway and follow them home,” Nguyen confessed to the tech news outlet.

Currently, the Halo X glasses feature a display and microphone but do not have a camera, although the pair is contemplating adding one in future iterations.

Users still need to carry their smartphones for the glasses to provide “real-time info prompts and answers,” according to Nguyen. The glasses, produced by an undisclosed manufacturer, connect to a corresponding app on the owner’s phone, handling most computational tasks externally due to limited on-device processing capabilities.

Internally, these smart glasses leverage Google’s Gemini and Perplexity as their chatbot engine, according to the two co-founders. Gemini is preferred for mathematical and logical tasks, while they utilize Perplexity for internet data searches.

In an interview, TechCrunch asked whether their glasses could reveal the release date for the upcoming season of “The Witcher.” Responding in a somewhat C-3PO-like manner, Ardayfio stated: “‘The Witcher’ season four is expected on Netflix in 2025, although a specific date hasn’t been confirmed. Most sources believe it will be released in the latter part of 2025.”

“I’m not entirely convinced that’s accurate,” he added.

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