Google and Samsung opened preorders on Thursday for their first smart glasses built around Google’s Gemini AI assistant. The frames are designed by Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, cost $395 to $489 and ship Dec. 10.
There are nine styles. Warby Parker’s three, called Alden, Reid and Wren, start at $395 in optical or sun versions and will be sold only in the United States, Ryan Whitwam reported for Ars Technica. Gentle Monster’s six run from $449 to $489 and are also on sale in South Korea. Those are starting prices with nonprescription lenses. Ars reported that the lenses will set the final price.
Google is leading with privacy, a problem that has trailed face-mounted cameras since Google Glass. According to a Google blog post announcing the preorders, recording stops if the indicator light is blocked or disabled, and bystanders’ faces are automatically redacted before Gemini processes what the camera sees. The company said those images aren’t kept in Gemini history or used for AI training or ad targeting. A physical switch turns the glasses into ordinary eyewear.
“As glasses become more capable, our focus is on creating helpful experiences that make both wearers and bystanders feel protected,” said Shahram Izadi, who leads Google’s XR unit.
In the blog post, Mr. Izadi put it more bluntly. “When technology can see the world around you, it has a responsibility to the people around you, too,” he wrote.
Buyers have to be 18 or older and agree not to film people without their permission, or Google can disable their glasses, The Next Web reported, citing Bloomberg, which first reported the preorders. The Google account behind them has to be based in the United States or South Korea.
Meta’s version of the recording light has been beaten with a $2 sticker. Google has banned accessories like that from its shopping and ad platforms.
Meta is the company to catch. It shipped 81% of AI glasses in the first half of the year and sells its own-brand glasses from $299, according to The Next Web. Google’s setup looks a lot like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Neither puts a screen in the lenses. Wearers say “Hey Gemini” or tap a touch-sensitive part of the frame, then ask about what they’re looking at, add an event from a flyer to their calendar or get recipe ideas from the food in front of them. The glasses also give walking directions, play music and handle calls. Google said live translation covers more than 70 languages.
Samsung built the hardware and Google wrote the software. The glasses run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 chip, have a 12-megapixel camera and last up to nine hours on a charge, with a charging case that holds up to seven more charges, according to Google. Every frame weighs about 41 grams before lenses. Mr. Whitwam called that near the top of the range for glasses.
They work with the Pixel 7 and newer, recent Galaxy phones and the iPhone 13 Pro and newer. Some features won’t reach iPhone owners at launch. Google said Guided Vision, Aira and Audible would work only with Android phones.
Google first showed the glasses at its I/O conference in May, and Samsung showed them again in July. Camera-equipped wearables have run into trouble since then. The smart ring maker Oura pulled its IPO in October amid a privacy backlash against AI glasses and rings.
Orders are being taken on the two eyewear brands’ websites and in their stores, and some Google and Samsung stores are offering demos. Sales start online and in stores on Dec. 10.