Whoa, okay, so here’s the scoop—Brilliant Labs rolled out something pretty wild called Halo. It’s these smart glasses that honestly sound like they belong in a sci-fi movie. You’ve got a legit full-color micro OLED display and bone conduction speakers (yeah, you read that right), and some fancy AI assistant that listens to your voice. And it’s all going for about $300, which is kinda nuts if you ask me.
I mean, I don’t even remember the last time I wore glasses that did more than just, you know, help me see. But these? They weigh a bit over 40 grams, which, fun fact, is about as heavy as a couple of lightbulbs. They built this thing after their earlier things—Monocle and Frame—apparently tried out the whole heads-up display gig, but honestly, this seems way cooler.
This is where they really hooked me: Halo isn’t just tech for the tech nerds, it’s got gear for us regular folks, complete with vision correction and open-source hardware stuff. Some processor mumbo-jumbo—Alif B1 with a Cortex-M55 CPU, whatever that means—powers it, and apparently, it’s got enough brains to run AI tasks directly. No middleman required!
They threw in an AI assistant named Noa. Kinda sounds like they wanted to give Siri a new friend who’s a bit more tech-savvy. And here’s a kicker: it remembers stuff for you. Figures, since the battery life’s supposed to last up to 14 hours. I can’t even remember the last time my phone lasted that long.
And microphones? Oh, they’ve got those, too. Plus, some optical sensor and IMU thing that helps with gestures or some high-tech wizardry like that. Bluetooth 5.3 keeps you connected as you walk around, probably looking like you stepped out of a futuristic spy movie.
Funny thing? There’s an optical sensor on these glasses, but it’s not for snapping Instagram pics, apparently. Nope, it’s for "AI inference"—whatever on earth that is. So don’t expect to replace your selfie camera. No LED light to tell if it’s recording, which could be good or, you know, slightly sketchy, depending on how you look at it.
Noa comes in basic and premium versions, too. (Isn’t that the standard drill? Give a little, then upsell for the snazzy bits.) No idea what the premium’s gonna cost, though.
Oh, and vision adjustments: the display optics go from +2 to -6 diopters. Prescription lenses are a-go through some partner deal with Smart Buy Glasses. Fashion-conscious glasses wearers, rejoice.
Like their past projects, this thing’s open source, so hackers and tinkerers can have a field day. Shipping’s supposedly starting in Q4 2025, one of those "first come, first served" deals. Head to their website if you’re tempted to snag a pair for $299.
And here’s some tech jargon to put it in perspective:
Brilliant Labs Halo Specs
- Display: Micro color OLED, adjustable +2 to -6 diopters
- Audio: 2x bone conduction speakers
- Processor: Alif B1 with Cortex-M55 CPU and NPU
- Sensors:
- Low-power optical sensor
- 2x microphones with audio activity detection
- 6-axis IMU with tap detection
- Lenses: With or without prescription and sunnies option
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3
- Software:
- Open Source software (GitHub access)
- ZephyrOS with Lua scripting
- Mobile app
- Cloud-based AI assistant (Noa)
- Battery: Up to 14 hours
- Fit: For IPD range of 58–72mm
- Weight: Just over 40 grams
Okay, so if sci-fi glasses are your jam, maybe check ’em out. Or, you know, just marvel at the fact that we’re kinda living in the future now. Cool, right?
