Through the smart lens: An introduction to AI glasses

This event is hybrid. Please note that only those joining in-person will be able to participate in the ‘play’ session at 3:30pm-4:30pm.

What are AI glasses? What will they mean for education?

This session will walk you through the technology and function; risks and regulation; equity and inclusion implications and assistive technology potential. Hear a broad range of perspectives including leading academics in the area.

Info: This hybrid event will walk you through the technology and function; risks and regulation; equity and inclusion implications and assistive technology potential. Hear from both students and leading academics in the area.

Info: Sue Sharpe will welcome everyone to the session

Info: Smart glasses are now part of the consumer market, designed to look like everyday eyewear while embedding cameras, microphones, speakers, displays, and AI connectivity. They are not a futuristic novelty but a present reality already shaping how teaching and learning occurs in our current classrooms. Camera-enabled models, such as the Ray Ban Meta, can livestream, record, take photos, and connect to external collaborators in real time. Audio-only versions, like Amazon’s Echo Frames, act as discreet voice assistants, retrieving information, providing translations, and delivering spoken responses. Heads-up display glasses, such as Halliday’s DigiWindow, can do all of the above, but also project prompts, notes, and visual overlays directly into a field of vision. In this session, Dr Arantes will explore the mechanics of smart glasses: what they are, how they work, and what they can do.

Info: Smart glasses promise life-changing possibilities, from real-time translation and wayfinding for people with low vision to instant access to information and enhanced learning experiences. But alongside innovation comes risk: surveillance creep, data misuse, and deepfake abuse are no longer speculative, they’re happening now. This talk explores the double-edged nature of wearable AI in education, where the same device that empowers can also exclude, intimidate, or violate. Drawing on lived experiences shared online, research, and emerging legislation, Dr. Welsman will explore how smart glasses are offering accessibility breakthroughs alongside privacy breaches. This is a critical conversation about rights, safety, and the governance of technologies that will soon be shaping our students’ lived experiences. 

Info: Bec Marland’s research examines the intersection of AI ethics, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and digital equity, with a focus on supporting students with hidden disabilities such as dyslexia. Her work critiques how AI tools like text-to-speech and adaptive learning platforms, while potentially transformative, can exacerbate educational inequalities when constrained by digital poverty. Drawing on Guardrail 10.2 of the Voluntary AI Safety Standard, she uses sociotechnical imaginaries to explore how institutions can remove financial barriers to accessibility, shift responsibility from schools to vendors, and treat equitable access to AI as a fundamental educational right.

Info: Presenters: Amanda Edgar and Fariha Jaigirdar.


This session explores the practical realities of integrating wearable AI into teaching and learning - from student engagement and learning spaces to data privacy and institutional trust. Featuring a variety of perspectives from staff, educators, and cybersecurity experts, the panel will unpack what it means to build a future campus where innovation supports safety, inclusion, and meaningful learning.

Info: Join us to explore with AI glasses while enjoying some refreshments

Also check out other Arts events in Melbourne, Fine Arts events in Melbourne, Virtual events in Melbourne.