Samsung brings Galaxy ecosystem into eyewear

The past year has seen increased interest in and uptake of smart glasses, driven by use cases such as augmented reality (AR) and through agentic artificial intelligence (AI) reshaping user experiences, and in its latest attempt to grab a slice of the expanding market, Samsung Electronics has introduced a collection of intelligent eyewear.

Building on the concepts announced at the latest Google I/O, the designs were developed with global eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The intelligent eyewear is intended to show how the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem can move beyond the mobile phone and into eyewear that supports daily routines, work, travel and hands-free moments.

In addition, Samsung noted that as AI enters an agentic era, the question is no longer only how intelligent it becomes, but where and how that intelligence meets people. It added that while mobile phones remain at the centre of connected experiences, devices across its Galaxy ecosystem can add context to different moments of daily life. Moreover, Samsung believes that intelligent eyewear represents that next step, bringing AI closer to people as they move, work, communicate and explore, without requiring every interaction to begin with a screen.

Unveiled at its Galaxy Unpacked event in London along with a new range of advance mobile devices, the eyewear is also designed to make mobile experiences more intuitive and responsive to each user’s context. At its heart is the Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 Platform from Qualcomm Technologies.

In physical form, the glasses pair a lightweight frame and slim profile, offering a range of frame styles, colours and lens options to suit different preferences and lifestyles with battery performance of up to nine hours on a single charge. Up to seven additional full charges can be made from the charging case.

The intelligent eyewear brings AI directly into the user’s line of sight, providing information and assistance while allowing them to stay engaged with the people, places and tasks around them. Controls and safeguards are said to support responsible and secure use, while hands-free access delivers assistance naturally without requiring users to stop what they are doing or turn to another screen.

A built-in camera brings visual context into the AI experience, while the AR1 Gen1 Platform supports the AI performance designed for real-time assistance, with touch interaction, connectivity, power efficiency and thermal management optimised in the eyewear’s frame. Warby Parker

Key experiences include helping summarise long messages, read key information aloud, support live translation and allowing users to control experiences with voice or gesture interactions through connected devices. When prompted, the eyewear can capture what a user is seeing, such as a whiteboard or meeting discussion, and organise key information in Notes.

Users can also have real-time interaction capabilities. They can ask for guidance based on their location, such as finding a route, setting a destination or understanding what is around them, while live translation can support communication in another language. The device can support follow-up interactions by understanding a user’s current context and connecting relevant information across tasks, helping users continue where they left off with less repetition.

Through live visual sharing, users can share what they are seeing during a call or record their own point of view, making communication more immediate while keeping their hands free.

Commenting on the new eyewear, Won-Joon Choi, chief operating officer of the mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics, said: “Intelligent eyewear creates a new point of interaction, bringing more personalised AI assistance naturally into the moments that make up everyday life.”

Qualcomm president and chief executive officer Cristiano Amon added: “We’re entering a new age of AI, where intelligence is built into the personal devices people rely on throughout the day. Qualcomm and Samsung are enabling more natural, context-aware AI across the Galaxy ecosystem.”

At Unpacked, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker displayed two distinct designs. The Gentle Monster edition features a slim frame in black, pairing a straight upper rim with softly rounded lower edges to create what was described as a “refined and fashion-forward silhouette”. The Warby Parker style features an upswept brow line in a brown hue, creating what the company said was “a versatile shape perfect for everyday settings”.