NEW YORK—Last month, New York State banned all “smart glasses” from its Unified Court System (UCS), which covers all courts within the state, and although New York was the first state to issue such a wide-sweeping ban, as reported in VMAIL, many courts and districts in other states have issued their own, smaller prohibitions. New York’s memorandum banning smart eyewear defined it as “eyewear or headwear containing a camera, microphone, computer or other technology that permit the user to record video or audio.” The state also bans filming, audio recording, broadcasting and telecasting in courts, but does not ban smartphones.
To understand more about how New York’s ban, and others like it that may follow, could impact the optical industry, VMAIL spoke with Kris Stevens, VP of research at The Vision Council. In general, Stevens said consumer awareness of smart eyewear has had a sharp climb since 2023. He pointed to The Vision Council’s Focused inSights 2025: Smart Eyewear report, which indicated 58 percent of consumers reported knowing exactly what smart eyewear is or have a general sense of it; 16 percent reported buying smart eyewear. “However, the percentage of people wearing smart eyewear in everyday situations is lower,” Stevens said.
As noted in last month’s VMAIL, no court that bans smart eyewear has made an exception for smart eyewear that includes the wearer’s prescription lenses, but, according to the research, consumers may not be using their smart eyewear as everyday frames, or seeing them as necessities. “Our findings from the same 2025 report found that curiosity, perceived usefulness, and general appeal as being ‘fun to use’ are the top motivators for smart eyewear purchases, while ‘no clear need or purpose’ and cost are the biggest deterrents,” Stevens explained. This also raises a question for marketing professionals, who, Stevens observed, “may increasingly need to answer the ‘why’ for consumers directly, as the category and its use cases become clearer.”
Kris Stevens.
This sentiment is in contrast to smartphones, still allowed in New York courtrooms, which have been accepted as an everyday necessity by most. Smart eyewear has not yet reached the ubiquity and acceptance of smartphones.
Still, the rapid growth in awareness of smart eyewear “naturally brings new questions about where and how the technology fits into public places like courthouses, workplaces, and schools, and we expect these conversations to continue as the market matures,” said Stevens. He noted that The Vision Council is continuing to track the sentiment around smart eyewear, “which will be crucial as smart eyewear continues to move from niche product to a more mainstream eyewear category.”
For now, Stevens said, “Privacy questions are a natural part of the conversation around any new technology, particularly one that’s worn and interacts with the world around the user.” As court systems, public spaces and the general population continues to evolve its feelings toward smart eyewear, the list of places it is deemed acceptable may grow. “As with past innovations, we expect a lot of continued dialogue among manufacturers, regulators and consumers as norms and legal frameworks catch up to the technology,” Stevens concluded.
