Meta has sold millions of camera-equipped smart glasses, and landed in a privacy storm for it. A Shenzhen startup is betting $1bn that the smarter move is to leave the camera off.
Even Realities has raised $150m at a $1 billion valuation, TechCrunch reported. Chinese giants Meituan and Tencent led the round. It makes the three-year-old firm a unicorn, and a pointed bet against the camera-first design that Meta and Snap have made the norm.
No camera, by design
Even’s glasses do not film you. Instead, a tiny display built into the lens shows notifications, live translations and directions, controlled by a companion ring you tap and swipe. Founder Will Wang, an ex-Apple engineer, argues the point is to stay present, with information surfacing only when you need it.
Leaving out the camera is also a privacy stance. Voice features turn speech into text rather than storing recordings, the app encrypts user data, and Wang says the system meets Europe’s strict privacy rules. It is a direct jab at the market leader.
