Warby Parker and Gentle Monster's Google and Samsung-created smart glasses have cameras like Meta's, but these have some subtle differences when it comes to AI.

In Gentle Monster’s hallucinatory showroom, I stared up at four robotic heads turning and talking inside floating spheres. I listened to them speak different languages. All of them were translated in my ears, on the fly, as I wore a pair of Gentle Monster smart glasses, “Intelligent Eyewear” codeveloped by Google and Samsung, which will finally arrive Dec. 10. They’ll be Google’s first pair of smart glasses since its Google Glass days more than a decade ago, and they’re landing at a time when public opinions on AI, smart glasses and data privacy couldn’t be more heated.

Google’s return to smart glasses has been promised for nearly two years, but the first waves of actual prescription-ready eyewear are only now rolling in nearly at year’s end, an unusual time for a product launch. Really, it feels more like a kickoff for efforts that will continue next year, as Google also works on AI-enabled glasses that have displays built in.

I’d worn Google and Samsung’s smart glasses in multiple demos before, but this month for the first time I got to try on and test the final versions designed by Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. I also visited two immersive showrooms the companies are opening in New York City to demo how these glasses work. These showrooms will be open by appointment.

The showrooms were like playgrounds, full of installation art to try the glasses in.

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