What you need to know
- Early rumors claim Samsung is now interested in developing its own brand of smart glasses, completely separate from its work with Google.
- These glasses could be “display-less,” moving it more in line with what we’ve seen from Ray-Ban Meta glasses with microphones, cameras, and a speaker.
- Samsung is reportedly developing glasses under Project HAEAN with Google, a pair that was on stage during Google’s TED demo this year.
A report claims Samsung is moving ahead with one of its smart glasses projects, with ambitions to release it in a year’s time.
This rumor surfaced via the South Korean publication, SEDaily, alleging Samsung is in the process of establishing its own smart glasses brand. The post cites an “industry insider,” who stated, “While Samsung is responsible for the hardware portion of its partnership with Google, Google also conducts internal hardware research and prepares for the future, so Samsung must also develop its own brand.”
With Samsung seemingly looking to step away from Google—at least for this supposed device—rumors theorize on its design, which could be “display-less.” The publication likens it to what we’ve received with the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses, which only provide a camera, speaker, and microphone for users.
Rumors purport that Samsung is interested in establishing itself in the smart glasses game through this standalone release. More than that, the idea of creating “display-less” smart glasses would help Samsung appeal to the market without driving up costs.
Early rumors claim these smart glasses could debut sometime during the “end of 2026.” Samsung’s AI would have a great role to play in these glasses, furthering the alleged comparison (and potential competition) between it at the Ray-Ban line.
Not “Project HAEAN,” but that’s still on the table
We’ve been slowly hearing more and more about Samsung’s interest in developing smart glasses, but those whispers were about its collaboration with Google. In March, a report claimed that Samsung was developing a pair of smart glasses under the project name “HAEAN.” These glasses would be a mixed reality pair, something that could go up against the RayBan Meta alternative.
Project HAEAN is speculated to deliver displays that could showcase “information or images” on its lenses. Additionally, the pair could sport “multiple” cameras, and give users the ability to make payments and understand their gestures.
A month later, Google had a TED demo, which highlighted a pair of smart glasses that pretty much showed off everything we’d seen hinted at during I/O. However, that demo was the first time we’d seen the glasses live and on stage. Subsequent reports claimed those glasses on stage, used by Google’s head of augmented reality and extended reality, Shahram Izadi, were Project HAEAN.
