On July 22, 2026, an interdisciplinary research group led by Professor Masahiko Tsukamoto of the Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, published a “6-tier, 21-measure” model of guidelines to address privacy issues related to AI-equipped glasses-type devices, known as “Smart Glasses AI.” This research was conducted in collaboration with three faculties at Kobe University and has been made public as a policy recommendation.
The research group points out that smart glasses AI is becoming the next-generation platform following smartphones, driven by the widespread adoption of the Ray-Ban Meta series. However, they also warn that the indistinguishable appearance from conventional glasses creates a serious privacy problem, as nearby third parties “don’t know when they are being photographed and analyzed.” The inherent risks identified are the invisibility of sensing activities, instantaneous inference by AI, structural inequality between users and third parties, and constant infiltration into living spaces.
The proposed guidelines are structured around six layers: “Visibility,” “Information,” “Protection,” “Control,” “Forgetting,” and “Building Trust,” and outline a total of 21 specific measures, ranging from physical and electronic security to data minimization and independent audits. A key feature is that it functions as a “design map” that allows users to determine priority measures not only for full-featured devices but also for degraded design models that deliberately omit cameras and microphones.
In addition, benchmark tests applying the framework to five major models, including the Ray-Ban Meta, have also been released. These tests analyze how well each product, including the camera-less “Even G2” model, conforms to the guidelines.
The research group aims to develop this model into an international standard roadmap for the wearable device and AI industries. They also plan to compare it with the smart glasses guidelines published by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), and are expected to continue their efforts with an eye towards international collaboration. This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (22H00550), and the paper is scheduled for publication in March 2027.
This article is an English translation of an original Japanese article, translated by the Mogura VR editorial team.
Reference
Japan Research.com
Kobe University
Kobe University Research Project: Privacy Control Technology for Smart Glasses AI
