There's a new pair of camera-less smart glasses in town: the Halliday G2. Designed for workplace meetings and more, these glasses use AI to listen, absorb and summarise without the visual intrusion. At $599 with subscription tiers from $10 to $99, they aim to be a professional tool for those who value discretion.

The release of the Halliday G2 comes amidst a growing trend in smart glasses design, where companies are prioritising audio over video recording. This shift is driven by privacy concerns and the desire for subtler tech that blends into professional environments. However, without indicators for when they're recording, these devices may still raise ethical questions.

The Halliday G2's AI service, Meeting Flow, turns spoken words into text on the wearer’s lens, making it a handy tool for hard-of-hearing individuals or anyone who wants to capture meeting details. Yet, like any wearable tech, there are concerns about data privacy and how this information might be used.

While the G2 glasses have their merits, they also face scrutiny from previous iterations that were met with mixed reviews. The company hopes to improve both the user experience and price point in a crowded market where giants such as Meta already dominate. As smart glasses become more prevalent, questions of privacy and ethics will only grow louder.