Introducing the latest addition to the world of smart eyewear: the $349 Frame glasses, boasting what Brilliant Labs calls multimodal “AI superpowers.” Developed by the startup Brilliant Labs, these open-source spectacles promise users AI translations, web searches, and visual analysis right at their fingertips.
In a video shared by Brilliant Labs, users can be seen utilizing voice commands to perform tasks such as identifying landmarks, searching for specific products online, or accessing nutritional information about food. All this information is displayed as an overlay directly on the lens.
Available for preorder in three colors – black, gray, and clear – Frame also offers an option for prescription lenses, albeit at a higher price of $448. The glasses are set to start shipping on April 15th.
While smart glasses are not a new concept, previous attempts, such as North’s Focals glasses, Bose’s now-discontinued audio AR sunglasses, and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, have struggled to gain widespread adoption. However, Frame from Brilliant Labs appears to offer a fresh perspective, boasting complete openness and hackability, which could provide users with more freedom than ever before.
Frame pairs with Brilliant Labs’ app, Noa, featuring an AI assistant powered by OpenAI for visual analysis, Whisper for translation, and Perplexity for web search. According to Brilliant Labs, the Noa AI “learns and adapts to both the user and the tasks it receives.”
While Noa is available for free, the startup plans to introduce a paid tier in the future, although pricing details have yet to be disclosed. However, the hardware itself will remain free to use, as confirmed by Brilliant Labs on its Discord channel, ensuring users can freely integrate the eyewear with other apps.
Brilliant Labs provides detailed specifications for Frame on its Discord channel, including a 640 x 400 pixel color micro OLED display, a 1280 x 720 camera, microphone, and a 222mAh battery. Running on a Lua-based custom operating system, powered by a nRF52840 Cortex-M4F CPU, Frame offers a roughly 20-degree diagonal field of view.
Additionally, the glasses come with a quirky Mister Power charger, featuring a “nose” design, offering fast charging and all-day battery life. While it remains to be seen how Frame compares to other smart spectacles on the market, its lightweight design of less than 40 grams promises a comfortable wearing experience compared to bulkier options like Apple’s Vision Pro glasses weighing over 600 grams.
