Samsung’s Smart Glasses Face an Uphill Battle

After months of teasing its smart glasses, Samsung might be one step closer to actually releasing them. The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo has reported, citing “electronics industry” sources, that the company’s specs are finally set to go on sale in mid-December—a bit later than previously expected. When they’re finally for sale, the Chosun says they’ll be available only in the U.S. and South Korea to start. We haven’t received a timeline directly from Samsung yet, so this information isn’t quite official, but it is the most concrete date we’ve seen. Some important details are still TBD, including price, which is arguably the biggest factor in how well Samsung will compete with companies like Meta in the space. Another major factor in how Samsung fares is one that’s not really within the company’s control—the social climate. Back in May, when Samsung first announced its smart glasses, which are being made in partnership with Gentle Monster, the pushback against the category was palpable but not overwhelming. Fast forward a few months, and things are starting to look a little different. © Adriano Contreras / Gizmodo Not only is the general social attitude less permissive, thanks to pushback from celebrities like Lorde and the horror stories of people misusing the devices cropping up around the world, but regulators are also getting increasingly involved. The intervention has been most stark in Europe, with a national ban currently on the table in Norway and a citywide ban recently enacted in Hamburg, Germany. Those bans, notably, apply to public spaces, unlike bans in the U.S. that have focused more on sensitive areas like courtrooms and schools. U.S. lawmakers have been slower to adopt any sweeping regulation, but their attitudes may be shifting as well. Just last week, U.S. senators demanded answers from Meta about its privacy practices regarding smart glasses, including its collection of user data to train AI—a practice that has led to some of Meta’s contractors seeing video of, well, sensitive occasions, such as people being naked or using the bathroom. Legislators haven’t called for regulation yet, but at least a couple senators are beginning to see smart glasses as a privacy risk right on their faces. The temperature on smart glasses in the U.S. is clearly heating up, and Samsung looks poised to enter that cauldron (ha) at an interesting time. Even if it does put out a worthy competitor to Meta’s increasingly bloated array of AI glasses from a technical standpoint, there’s no guarantee it will fare any better in dealing with restrictions if/when they come to pass. Either way, it looks like Samsung will be testing the waters soon—backlash and regulation be damned.