After waking up in the morning, put on your glasses and the weather forecast and itinerary will automatically appear on the lenses; Being in a foreign land, simply touch the mirror legs to obtain real-time translation of foreign language road signs; In meetings, glasses can record key information and automatically generate meeting minutes... This is not a scene from science fiction movies, but a daily function of smart glasses. The latest report released by International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that the global shipment of smart glasses will reach 14.773 million units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 44.2%; The Chinese market leads the world with a growth rate of 87.1%, with shipments exceeding 2.46 million units. Nowadays, smart glasses are transforming from "geek toys" to mass consumer goods. At present, the smart glasses on the market are mainly divided into three categories: visual enhancement type, 'audio+shooting' type, and health monitoring type. ”Tong Xinyu, Associate Professor of Talent at the School of Computer Science and Technology, Tianjin University, told a reporter from Science and Technology Daily. Visual enhanced smart glasses use optical waveguide technology to overlay virtual information such as weather forecasts and road navigation onto the real field of view. The workflow is as follows: the micro display chip inside the glasses emits image light, which is transmitted through optical waveguide technology and projected from the lens to the retina of the human eye, making the user feel the image floating in front of them several meters away. For example, some binocular full-color smart glasses can achieve a 1080P resolution projection effect, which is equivalent to a virtual large screen of 120 inches floating in front of the user. Optical waveguide technology lays a 'light track' inside the lens of vision enhancing smart glasses, allowing light to be accurately projected onto the user's retina after total reflection inside the lens, ensuring display clarity and avoiding the bulky nature of traditional prisms. ”Introduction by Tong Xinyu. The appearance of the "audio+shooting" smart glasses is similar to ordinary sunglasses, with built-in dual cameras, microphone array, and speakers, supporting first person shooting, real-time translation, and voice assistant interaction. Tong Xinyu introduced that this type of smart glasses mainly has two technological breakthroughs: one is the ultra miniature camera sensor, which is only the size of a grain of rice, but can record 1080P high-definition videos and take 3K resolution photos; The second is AI noise reduction technology, which can clearly record the user's voice in noisy environments while filtering out environmental noise. In addition, these glasses also support slow motion and time-lapse photography, with functions comparable to a small sports camera. Health monitoring smart glasses can monitor users' fatigue and attention levels in real time, and even detect early eye diseases. It can achieve these mainly by relying on two major functions. ”Tong Xinyu introduced that the first is eye tracking and pupil analysis. The smart glasses are equipped with a miniature infrared camera inside, which emits invisible infrared light to the user's eyes and then captures the position, size, and rate of change of the pupil in real time. When a person is tired, the pupil response slows down; When a person's attention is distracted, eye movements become chaotic. Smart glasses can determine the user's state by analyzing these subtle changes. The second is retinal vascular imaging analysis. Some medical grade smart glasses can help diagnose diabetes retinopathy by taking retinal photos to analyze whether there are abnormalities in vascular morphology (such as bleeding points, vascular distortion, etc.). The whole process is similar to taking a photo with a mobile phone and using AI to recognize objects in the photo, but here it recognizes signs of disease. Smart glasses pose a threat to information security and health, bringing convenience but also burying hidden dangers that cannot be ignored. Professor Xie Xin from the School of Computer Science and Technology at Tianjin University believes that these risks are like "scratches" on a lens, seemingly small but potentially affecting users' privacy, health, and even property safety. The most direct threat comes from privacy breaches. The camera of smart glasses can record everything in the user's field of view 24 hours a day, including other people's faces, important documents, and even private spaces at home. Although some smart glasses may light up the indicator light during recording, some manufacturers have cancelled this design in pursuit of "concealment", further increasing the risk of smart glasses stealing photos. The more hidden risk lies in the use of data. Xie Xin explained that user recorded videos, voice commands, action trajectories, and other data may be uploaded to the cloud for AI model training or precise advertising profiling. Taking a certain smart glasses as an example, its service terms explicitly allow the use of user data to optimize AI models. When most users often give up control of their personal data with just one click of consent. Eye health risks are also worth paying attention to. The display module of smart glasses is usually located 1 to 2 centimeters in front of the eyes, and prolonged viewing of virtual information can easily lead to "visual convergence adjustment conflict" (VAC). Simply put, VAC refers to the mismatch between the focal distance of the eyes and the convergence distance of both eyes, leading to eye fatigue, headaches, and even nausea. ”Xie Xin explained. In addition, payment and property security issues are hidden within the seemingly convenient 'seamless interaction'. Smart glasses support voice payment and NFC near-field payment, but if the microphone is "hijacked" by malicious software or the NFC module is not encrypted, the payment password may be leaked. In 2025, a security team demonstrated on site that by forging WiFi hotspots to "hijack" smart glasses, they successfully stole users' bank account information. These hidden dangers are not exaggerated. As Wang Zhiqiu, a partner at Shenzhen Huadao Research Consulting Co., Ltd., said, "Only by solving privacy and other issues can smart glasses truly enter the lives of ordinary people." Choosing the right "second pair of eyes": Faced with a wide variety of categories and functions of smart glasses, how can consumers avoid consumption traps and choose products that truly meet their own needs? Experts suggest that consumers should make rational choices from the perspectives of demand, privacy, and experience. Before purchasing smart glasses, consumers should clarify their core usage needs and avoid paying for unnecessary features. ”Xie Xin further said that if you only want to use it in lightweight scenarios such as daily shooting and real-time translation, it is recommended to choose smart glasses that focus on audio and shooting functions, and pay attention to whether the glasses have a resolution of 1080P or above, microphone array noise reduction effect, and a continuous battery life of not less than 4 hours. If there is a demand for immersive movie watching, mobile office, etc., visual enhanced smart glasses are a better choice. ”Xie Xin further suggested that priority should be given to products with a field of view angle of not less than 50 degrees, brightness above 500 nits, and a total weight controlled within 50 grams to achieve a more comfortable user experience. Most health monitoring functions are additional features, and if there is no clear medical need, consumers do not need to pay extra for them. ”Xie Xin added. When selecting products, everyone must pay attention to privacy and security. ”Tong Xinyu believes that consumers should prioritize products with localized processing capabilities - products where data can be processed on the device side without the need to upload to the cloud, reducing the risk of privacy breaches from the source. At the same time, the product needs to be equipped with a one click function to turn off the camera and microphone, and support high-intensity data encryption such as AES-256. For products with payment functions, it should also be confirmed whether they have passed PCI DSS payment security certification to ensure the security of funds and information. The wearing comfort and display effect directly determine the frequency of daily use. ”Xie Xin suggests that consumers try to experience wearing it in person as much as possible. When trying on, consumers can pay attention to whether the pressure of the temple on the temple is uniform, whether the nose support supports multi gear adjustment, and whether the lens transmittance is suitable for daily use environment. If consumers choose smart glasses with AR function, they also need to test the edge clarity of their virtual image, the visual brightness in outdoor environments, and the delay performance when the image follows the head rotation to avoid dizziness and other problems. In addition, software ecology and after-sales service are equally crucial. ”Tong Xinyu introduced that products equipped with mature AI models have smoother voice interaction. In terms of after-sales service, comprehensive warranty services can provide more guarantee for future use. According to IDC's prediction, the global shipment of smart glasses will exceed 40 million units in 2029, and the market share in China will continue to climb. When enjoying the convenience brought by technology, we also need to guard the bottom line of privacy and security, and find a balance between technological innovation and ethical norms. Only in this way can smart glasses truly become the 'second pair of eyes' that expand our horizons, "Xie Xin concluded. (New Society)