Ever since Meta debuted its smart glasses back in 2021, concerns have been raised over their ability to film people without their knowledge.
Now, two Harvard students have taken the device’s privacy-invading capabilities even further – by building a modified version called ‘I-XRAY’.
The creepy system uses AI and facial recognition software to instantly dox people’s identities.
In an astonishing clip, the students go up to random strangers and quickly identify their name and other personal details – including their home address, work history and even the names of parents.
It’s reminiscent of the Black Mirror episode, White Christmas, where a hopeless singleton uses an implant to instantly find online information about strangers.
The tech has been created by AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio, two engineers at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
‘The purpose of building this tool is not for misuse, and we are not releasing it,’ they say in a document outlining the technology.
‘Our goal is to demonstrate the current capabilities of smart glasses, face search engines, large language models and public databases.
‘[We’re] raising awareness that extracting someone’s home address and other personal details from just their face on the street is possible today.’
On X (Twitter), Nguyen posted a video of the tech with the caption: ‘Are we ready for a world where our data is exposed at a glance?’
As the students show in the clip, they use a combination of existing tech on the market to create AI glasses ‘that reveal anyone’s personal details just from looking at them’.
