With such big names competing in the smart glasses field, can startups stand out or even crack the case for socially acceptable smart glasses? One such company, Brilliant Labs, is up to the challenge with its latest developer-focused product: Frame, a $349 pair of open-source AI glasses with augmented reality display.
From Monocle to Frame
Frame is actually Brilliant Labs' second hardware. Their first device was Monocle, the clip-on augmented reality (AR) glasses which I had some hands-on experience with last year and was left positively impressed. This was mainly due to its open-source nature, which is unlike what others in the AR market has to offer. Brilliant Labs stuck with this ethos with Frame. The product is fully open-source on both hardware and software fronts. This is a radical approach, considering the tightly-guarded, proprietary nature of most tech devices. By being open-source, Brilliant Labs has steadily attracted developers to tinker with its devices and they have a buzzing community on Discord.
While both Monocle and Frame share the open-source nature, Frame packs a much different hardware than Monocle. The latter was designed more as an accessory that you can wear and take off when needed. On the other hand, Frame packs an inconspicuous design. It looks like regular, round-shaped glasses that can be worn all day long.
In a sense, this change in hardware form factor represents Brilliant Labs' own maturation as a company. "With both Monocle and Frame, we challenged ourselves to make something essential — a pared down version of what this category of devices may one day become — while still maintaining a commitment to being open source," Bobak Tavangar, CEO of Brilliant Labs, told me. "Each device represents stages in our own learning as a team and, to that end, Monocle allowed us to dive deep into the key enabling hardware technologies while foregoing the complexity of designing for the human face. Frame represents a deliberate step toward glasses which sit between your eyes and world you perceive."
The model I had access to was the H20 variant with a translucent shell which I am particularly fond of as it gloriously displays the device's internal components. The glasses also come in black and white color if you'd rather keep the innards hidden.
Most of the optical components are located on the right lens. The image below provides a good look at what these are:
Image courtesy of Brilliant Labs
As with Monocle, Frame's electronics are well concealed and impressively so considering the thin and lightweight aspect of the glasses (it weighs less than 40g). From the outside, you will notice a sort of streak where the display is. You won't really see any output or text as this is visible by the glass wearer only. The effect could be mistaken for varifocal lenses and that helps in making the glasses less conspicuous and more socially acceptable.
To charge Frame, you will need to attach Mister Power, the charging adapter, and plug in a USB-C charger. When connected to Mister Power, Frame has an almost comical look but at least Brilliant Labs is playing along and gave the charger a fun name.
Frame is comfortable to wear and Brilliant Labs includes magnetic, removable nose pads that you can use to adjust the viewing angle of the display. However, as a bespectacled person, I would have appreciated the inclusion of lens inserts. As Frame already has magnets for the nose pads, inner frames to fit in prescription lenses could have been included. Brilliant Labs does offer the lens dimensions and recommends bonding your prescription lenses to the inner side of Frame's default lenses. However, I was unable to have this done at local opticians.
Another hiccup that I noticed is with the arms. The very ends of each arm stores a battery. This doubles as a counterweight, making the device comfortable to wear as it does not weigh down on your nose. However, it makes the arms feel a bit flimsy when opening and closing due to the weight at the rear. That said, the build of the glasses is still of high quality.
Frame: fun, flawed wearable AI
While Frame is geared towards a developer and early adopter demographic, it is useable out of the box. Brilliant Labs has a dedicated, open-source companion app, Noa, that is available on both Android and iOS to showcase the potential of their latest device.
Using Noa and, by extension, Frame as–is, requires an internet connection. Once paired and online, Noa functions as an AI-powered chatbot of sorts. You can ask it questions by tapping on the side of the glasses and tap back to indicate that you have finished your query. Noa will then share a reply which will be mirrored to Frame's display as readable text. The AI service it uses depends on the type of query, so you're not tied to a single service. For example, Noa can translate what you see and hear via Whisper. If you need up-to-date information, it will switch to Perplexity.
Image courtesy of Brilliant Labs
There's no subscription fee, so you're free to use Frame without making additional purchases but there is a cap of 2000 credits per month. How these credits are expended isn't made exactly clear. It would help if Brilliant Labs would share a "conversion rate" for the queries and their cost.
As Frame features a camera, you can ask Noa questions about your immediate surroundings. For example, you can ask details about a monument you happen to be next to or ask about the nutritional value of a meal in front of you. This multimodal aspect of the AI makes it more enticing and useful. However, it comes with some privacy concerns but Frame's camera is quite well concealed and the open source nature of the product ensures transparency over the functioning of the device and its companion software.
You can further tune some of Noa's features such as the tone and response length via the app. It also has a text-to-speech function, allowing you to hear the response. However, Frame itself does not include built-in speakers (but it does have a microphone). As such, the spoken output can be heard via your phone's speaker or a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
To me, it feels like a missed opportunity to not have built-in speakers in Frame. I wear smart audio glasses, like the Solos AirGo 3, daily and they are handy options to go out without having to carry earbuds. That said, having speakers built in would increase the weight and drain the battery life of Frame. And even without speakers, you can perfectly read out the response of Noa on the glasses and it's kind of the point. This also keeps the replies more private.
Using Frame is a fun experience. While there is a delay of a few seconds between asking a question and receiving an answer, Noa has some character, outputting some playful and witty responses. On a recent trip, she was able to help me identify peaks and local fauna and flora, along with some fun trivia. Reading the text is easy, although readability is lowered under bright lighting conditions. I could even ask her to generate images which I could view on my phone.
An image Noa generated following a query
However, Noa is not impervious to "hallucinations", or making up answers that are out of context or simply false. When I queried it about some fish, it confidently lied to me. I experienced similar results with trees and medication packages. As such, users should not take Noa's response at face value but rather with a measure of caution; while keeping in mind that it is an early adopter product which is not perfect. In fact, Brilliant Labs does state this in the welcome message included in the package.
The company is also open about this downside. "Unfortunately, model hallucination is something we all encounter but I do anticipate OpenAI, Anthropic, and other foundation model makers to mitigate this over time," Boback told me. "For now, Noa will pass on what it receives but we're considering techniques to have multiple models compete and select the best and the most relevant answer." The latter approach could be a decent workaround if it can be implemented.
Frames makes for a fun travel companion
There are other aspects that are in need of improvements with Noa and Frame. The delay between asking a question and getting an answer could be minimized. As Noa makes use of Perplexity, it could share the sources of its responses. This would allow the user to verify the statements and inquire further if they need to.
On a more practical side, there is currently no means to tell the battery life of Frame. Brilliant Labs told me that there will be a future update that integrates this feature but it feels like a needful feature of any tech devices. Even if the displayed text (and emojis) are clear on Frame's built-in display, there is a streak towards the upper end. This can be minimized by adjusting the position of the glasses.
Brilliant Labs' CEO noted that more updates are on their way for Frame. This includes native text-to-speech features integration and enabling users to use their own Perplexity and OpenAI subscriptions. For developers, they will unveil an in-house developed graphics and vector engine, in addition to the recently-released SDK. It's encouraging to hear that the company is planning to support the device with further such updates.
A glimpse at our AR future by Brilliant Labs
Sure, Frame is flawed and has limited apps; and these are hallmarks of a developer-focused device. I asked the company's CEO when Frame will be ready for the general consumer, complete with an app library. He was quite frank in his response: "We think it's too early to target general consumers with this technology so we're focused on learning as much as we can alongside our developer community to figure out what that future might look like."
When asked about the decision to remain developer-focused with their second device, Bobak had a refreshing answer: "It's so early for these technologies in our lives — both AR hardware and generative AI — and a vibrant community of developers is the most durable and representative way for us to iteratively explore the role these devices will play in our lives."
As such, you should not get these glasses expecting to have full featured smart glasses. They don't mirror your phone's notifications or allow you to take calls. While such features would make a stronger case for these glasses, Noa is a decent showcase of the possibilities of Frame. It's able to provide multimodal AI access in a compact form factor that is socially acceptable and provides outputs in AR. Even if the display is static and on one lens, the assistance of Noa is welcome and fun.
Frame and Noa provide a glimpse at an exciting augmented future of glasses and Brilliant Labs is leading an alternative approach to that future; one that is supported by a vibrant community thanks to an open-source ethos. This makes Frame one of the most unique and exciting AR/AI products on the market. I won't recommend it if you want a product with a lot of apps but I'd recommend it if you want to develop AR/AI software and/or want to have an early glimpse of what our AR future might look like.
