Start-up Halo, founded by two Harvard dropouts, has launched a revolutionary "always-on" AI glasses that claims to make wearers instantly "super smart." The $249 device is now accepting pre-orders starting this Wednesday, but its secret recording function without an indicator light has raised serious privacy concerns.
The Promise of "Infinite Memory"
Anh Phu Nguyen, co-founder of Halo, said: "Our goal is to create glasses that make you super smart the moment you put them on." Another co-founder, Caine Ardayfio, described the glasses as giving users "infinite memory."
The Halo X glasses can listen, record, and transcribe every conversation, then display relevant information in real time to the wearer. Ardayfio explained, "The AI will listen to every conversation you have and use that knowledge to tell you what to say... kind of like a real-life Cluely."
When someone says a complex word or asks a question, such as "What is 37 cubed?" the answer appears immediately on the glasses' screen. This feature is designed to help users gain an advantage in scenarios like job interviews and school exams.
Million-Dollar Funding Supports Product Development
Halo has successfully raised $1 million in funding, led by Pillar VC, with participation from Soma Capital, Village Global, and Morningside Venture. The two founders have now moved into a "hackers' hostel" in the San Francisco Bay Area, focusing on product development.
Ardayfio defines the glasses as "the first step toward ambient thinking," trying to create a new type of human-computer interaction experience. The device relies on the user's smartphone for computing power, and the underlying technology uses Google's Gemini and Perplexity as AI engines, with the former excelling in mathematical reasoning and the latter handling internet data retrieval.
Privacy Controversy as the Biggest Issue
Differing from Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, the Halo X has no external indicator light to warn others that they are being recorded. Ardayfio explained, "We wanted the hardware to be as discreet as regular glasses." The device records every word and transcribes it, then deletes the audio files.
This design choice has sparked strong concerns from privacy advocates. Eva Galperin, cybersecurity director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warned, "Normalizing the use of always-on recording devices... erodes our expectations of privacy in various spaces."
Several states in the U.S. have laws stating that secretly recording conversations without others' consent is illegal. Ardayfio said users must obtain consent themselves, but the feasibility of this solution is highly questioned.
Controversial Background of the Technical Team
The two founders have previously attracted attention due to privacy-related projects. Last year, while studying at Harvard, they developed the I-XRAY project, which added facial recognition functionality to Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, demonstrating how to identify strangers and access personal information within seconds.
In an interview with 404Media, Nguyen admitted to the technical risks: "Some men might find the home addresses of some girls on a train and then follow them home." This candid statement highlights both technical capability and potential dangers.
Data Security Commitments and Doubts
Regarding data processing, Ardayfio stated that Halo relies on Soniox for audio transcription, and the company claims it never stores recordings. Nguyen promised that the final product will use end-to-end encryption and plans to obtain SOC2 compliance certification, but specific implementation details and completion timelines remain undisclosed.
The current Halo X only features a display and microphone, but the company is exploring the possibility of adding a camera in future versions.
Market Positioning and Competitive Strategy
Facing competition from tech giants like Meta, Nguyen believes that big companies' historical burden on privacy issues actually creates opportunities for startups: "Meta has a poor reputation when it comes to caring about user privacy... that's a huge reputational risk for them."
