Omdia: Global AI Glasses Shipments More Than Doubled in 1H26 to Record 4.2 Million

Meta Platforms is expected to unveil smart glasses without a camera at Wednesday's Connect conference, a move aimed at addressing privacy concerns and a class action lawsuit in California. According to Reuters, the camera-free glasses will come in two styles, Clubmaster and Burbank, alongside a new version of its Meta Ray-Ban glasses with a camera and a thinner and lighter pair of augmented-reality glasses codenamed Phoenix. Current models carry a built-in high-resolution digital camera for point-of-view photos and videos, activated by a temple button or voice command, with a white LED light on the front signaling an active camera. Despite that light, privacy advocates have criticized the ability to film unsuspecting subjects, and the glasses have been restricted in several UK public spaces. Meta and eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica also face a federal class-action lawsuit in California alleging consumers were misled about privacy protections and that the glasses covertly captured and transmitted private and intimate footage to offshore human contractors for AI training, with cameras often activated without users' knowledge. Meta's Connect 2026 runs Wednesday and Thursday, with a keynote address from CEO Mark Zuckerberg at 4pm PT, 7pm ET.

Wearable Devices Ltd. announced a Notice of Allowance from the China National Intellectual Property Administration for its patent application covering pressure-based gesture control. The allowed application, titled "Method and Apparatus for a Gesture Controlled Interface for Wearable Devices," extends a U.S.-granted intellectual property family covering a wrist-worn band that senses surface nerve conduction signals and turns hand and finger movement into commands without cameras, controllers or touchscreens. The China allowance specifically protects the Company's ability to measure the intensity of a gesture, converting a simple on/off motion into smooth, continuous, pressure-based control. The allowance sits within a broader IP portfolio that now comprises 14 patent matters across the United States, China, and South Korea, six of which have been granted, with priority dates as early as 2015 and protection running as late as 2043. Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder Guy Wagner said securing the protection in China, the world's largest developer, manufacturer and market for robotics and consumer electronics, is an important step for the Company's IP portfolio.