What the hardware captures
Consumer camera glasses typically carry a ~12MP ultrawide (about a 100° field of view), five microphones, and record 1080p–3K video. Faces are identifiable at 15–20 m in good light. Unlike a phone, the lens is always at eye level and always pointed where the wearer looks.
The consent gap
A phone held up to record is a visible social signal; glasses erase it. The only cue is a small LED that studies show most bystanders never notice beyond ~3 m — and which is invisible in sunlight, at angles, or under stickers (which violate the terms of service, but physics doesn't check ToS).
The law, roughly
In most jurisdictions, photography in public is legal, but audio recording often triggers stricter wiretap laws (e.g., two-party-consent US states). Private venues — gyms, schools, concerts, casinos — can and increasingly do ban camera glasses at the door.
Why artists dramatize it
Stage shows about surveillance (the watching eye, the capture, the tower) work because the discomfort is real: aggregated always-on cameras plus face recognition turn a crowd of strangers into a searchable database. The debate isn't hypocrisy — it's exactly the conversation the imagery is meant to start.