AI smart glasses, ambient computing, and the public sphere: a mini review of media governance challenges
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2026.1695869/full
Publish Date: 2026-03-10 03:32:00
Source Domain: www.frontiersin.org
-
Introduction to AI-Powered Smart Glasses: AI smart glasses shift human-media interaction from episodic smartphone use to continuous, context-aware overlays, becoming central interfaces in ambient computing.
-
Reframing Visibility and Surveillance: These devices change how visibility, surveillance, and interaction occur in public spaces, leading to new concerns about privacy and the use of first-person recording.
-
Emerging Governance Challenges: The technology raises issues regarding privacy, consent, data sovereignty, and the regulation of ambient computing, revealing gaps in existing governance frameworks.
-
Algorithmic Bias and Public Sphere Implications: Smart glasses use algorithms to mediate reality, leading to concerns about algorithmic bias and fragmenting shared experiences in public space, with significant implications for democratic participation.
-
Theoretical Perspectives on Media Governance: A critical media governance framework is essential for understanding the societal implications of smart glasses, focusing on themes including surveillance capitalism, data colonialism, and the attention economy.
-
Theoretical Critique of Remediation: These devices refashion early media forms and intensify mediation through algorithmic overlays, making users look through the medium rather than at it.
-
Call for Proactive Governance: The article argues for proactive, participating, and infrastructure-level governance to address societal impacts, considering smart glasses not merely as consumer gadgets but as critical media infrastructures.
-
Future Research Directions: There are calls for longitudinal, non-Western, and participatory studies to better understand the transformation of the public sphere in the context of ambient AI-mediated perception.
