Well, folks. It’s official. Smart glasses are going fashionable, despite still looking rather clunky. But I am guessing Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, eyewear partners of Samsung and Google, will make chunky-framed eyewear the new black. That’s right, my friends, it’s going to be the ‘50s all over again, but a (tech) twist.
At Google I/O 2026, Samsung and Google offered a first look at two premium styles created by Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. They are not called smart glasses anymore. They are now called “intelligent eyewear,” but really, the functions are pretty much the same as smart glasses.
These include navigation assistance, managing everyday tasks, capturing photos, receiving real-time translations, and more, without taking out your phone. Having a smartphone is a real convenience. However, if it becomes a chore to pull out your phone like 10,000 times a day, these glasses are here to help.
They serve as companion devices to smartphones, and leveraging voice interaction, they let users access help without lifting a finger. Of course, AI is in order, with Samsung and Google touting “breakthrough AI capabilities” in a familiar form factor that is supposedly both comfortable and stylish.
It’s AI, so these glasses are built to understand the world alongside you in real time. They provide everyday support without your hands intervening or constantly looking down at your phone. Voice is the key interaction here. You can ask Google Gemini just about anything, be it navigation, personalized suggestions such as a nearby coffee shop along your walking route, and more.
You will probably use your phone less, too, thanks to summarized notifications for important texts, and even the ability to add events to your calendar. Like a good pair of smart glasses, it also touts real-time translations with audio that matches the speaker’s voice, plus the ability to translate text on menus or signs within your line of sight.
Now, that’s the future. Understanding languages you do not know, thus helping break the language barrier, all without the need to put a worm in your ear or consume mysterious multilingual “ooze” (or “goo”) provided by a gelatinous alien Veb.
The Samsung x Google Intelligent Eyewear will, of course, work seamlessly within the Galaxy ecosystem to do things like manage everyday tasks, capture photos, and more. The first intelligent eyewear collections are set to launch this fall in select markets. Pricing and launch details have yet to be announced.
Images: Samsung.