These smart glasses promise to turn your silent mouth movements into text

The next time you see a software engineer shaping silent words with their mouth, you may have to think twice before asking if they need a mental health day – they might just be wearing a pair of smart glasses that let them talk to their computer without uttering a sound.

Subvocal is a Y Combinator-backed startup aiming to produce these glasses, and already has working prototypes to show off in YouTube videos, including one with YC partner Dave Lieb trying them out and being impressed enough to offer funding. The headset isn’t what the final version will look like, the company notes, which is good: The demo headset is obviously 3D printed and far from fashionable.

Once the final product is available it should look a lot sleeker, based on mockups on the company’s website. It’s not clear when they’ll actually be released, though the preorder page says it’ll be sometime in Q1 2027 at an early bird price …