University of Washington Researchers Install Tiny Cameras into Earbuds

UW researchers have created the VueBuds prototype that embeds rice-grain-sized cameras into standard wireless Sony earbuds. These earbuds allow users to point their gaze towards an object and ask AI questions about it, receiving low resolution images as answers that are transferred via Bluetooth connected devices. Their motivation was that since people wear earbuds over smart glasses, the earbuds will be a more socially accepted platform for visual AI. These earbuds address the concerns of privacy, since they discard the images immediately, but create a challenge for bystanders as they have no way of knowing if the camera is present.