Other companies are addressing privacy concerns in alternative ways without removing the camera.
The Taiwanese company HTC recently introduced the Vive Eagle glasses, priced at less than a quarter of Snap’s offering.
Thomas Dexmier, vice president at HTC Vive, stated that if someone near the wearer says “stop filming” or “stop recording” and the command is picked up by one of the four microphones, the camera will deactivate.
He added that all recordings captured by the glasses are encrypted and inaccessible to the firm, though this also means HTC is unable to flag harmful content.
“We acknowledge that there are significant challenges, which could become a serious problem, particularly for women,” he noted.
He stated that HTC Vive is working to make the technology as difficult to misuse as possible, but declined to say whether the company would consider producing a camera-free version, calling it “too early to comment.”
Ultimately, Wood believes that camera-enabled smart glasses are “here to stay.”
He notes that the current situation reminds him of the 2000s, when critics argued that mobile phone companies could not install cameras due to similar privacy concerns. “There is an inevitability to this technology,” he said.
“We will need to establish a societal norm and a framework for the use of these products.”
Top image credit: Getty.