Philly courts will ban all smart eyeglasses starting next week

Philadelphia just told smart specs to wait outside: starting Monday, no camera‑equipped “smart” eyeglasses in any city court building. Officials say it’s to protect witnesses and jurors from intimidation, since these shades are hard to spot and easy to abuse. Break the rule and you could be removed—or even charged with criminal contempt. Other devices like phones can come in, but powered off and stowed. Philly now joins an early wave with Hawaii, Wisconsin, and North Carolina adding explicit bans.

Online? The comment section went full courtroom drama. The top vibe is pure banhammer: one user blasted, “Absolutely [forget] these things,” demanding a nationwide ban, while another shouted “All public transit and workplaces next.” The sales hype (“7 million pairs in 2025,” per Bloomberg) got roasted with a sarcastic “no they haven’t,” as skeptics insist smart specs are still a niche toy.

The hero meme of the day: Zuckerberg. Commenters joked there’s no worse ad than Zuck in Ray‑Bans, calling the look “creep with a camera.” Remember that L.A. trial? A judge made him ditch the glasses and threatened contempt for any recording, reported by NPR.

But a minority is dazzled by the sci‑fi: one fan called the tech “freaking magnificent,” linking to the waveguide wizardry inside these lenses via iFixit. Then came the brain‑twister: what about implants? If the camera is in your head, how do you “turn it off”? Philly’s move set the stage, but the comments made it a culture war: privacy vs. convenience, cops vs. cyborgs, and a whole lot of shade—at smart shades.