A pair of “always-on” AI-powered smart glasses is launching that listen, record, and transcribe every conversation, displaying relevant information to the wearer in real-time. Co-founded by Harvard students AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio, Halo X aims to make users “super intelligent” with its technology.
The glasses use AI to analyze conversations, providing answers to complex questions like 37 to the third power. They will be priced at $249 and available for preorder starting Wednesday. The duo has raised $1 million in funding from investors Pillar VC, Soma Capital, Village Global, and Morningside Venture.
However, concerns over privacy have been raised due to the glasses’ ability to record conversations without an external indicator. Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warns that normalizing covert recording devices erodes trust in our conversations.
The Halo X glasses will not store recordings, but Nguyen claims it will be end-to-end encrypted upon release. The duo is exploring adding a camera to future models and relies on Soniox for audio transcription, which claims never to store recordings.
Halo X marks the latest venture from the Harvard pair, who previously developed facial-recognition capabilities for Meta’s smart glasses without consent. Users will need their smartphones handy to power the glasses, and they are tethered to an accompanying app for real-time information prompts and answers.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/20/harvard-dropouts-to-launch-always-on-ai-smart-glasses-that-listen-and-record-every-conversation