Qualcomm and InSpecs launch personal AI smart glasses for the workplace

Qualcomm’s big theme for Snapdragon Summit 2026 is personalised AI. Agents that know who you are, where you are, and can make actions and decisions on your behalf. On day two of the summit, it shifted its focus to wearables, including the announcement of three new smart glasses in partnership with InSpecs.

“Hundreds of millions of people put on eyewear before a shift starts,” said Robin Totterman, Founder and Executive Chairman of InSpecs. “Not because it’s cool, not because a brand told them to do so, because the regulation says so.”

Totterman explained that his company figured that this was a missed opportunity: what if it added AI technology and cameras to obligatory eyewear? What could they enable? “Well, here’s what we found: in a defined work environment, a factory floor, an oil rig, a lab, a camera isn’t a novelty. It’s already that, already trusted, already part of how people work.

“A worker snaps a photo for inspection without ever putting a wrench down. A specialist 4,000 miles away watches the same feed live and talks them through the repair in real-time.”

While this concept isn’t original – Epson sells a range of AR glasses for use in industry – the idea appears to be to move this technology away from industrial niches and into the mainstream.

Qualcomm’s Sound Elite Gen 2 chips

Along with the enterprise glasses, Totterman announced two more new pairs of smart glasses: one audio frame and another to assist people’s hearing.

These are all based on Qualcomm Sound Elite Gen 2, also announced at Snapdragon Summit 2026.

Qualcomm describes this as its “first premium audio platform purpose-built for personal AI, transforming hearables from audio accessories into intelligent companions that can understand, assist and adapt throughout the day.”

For example, it showed a pair of earbuds that included cameras to capture context. It also promises real-time translation and personal AI assistants that can understand requests, retrieve relevant information (such as who you’re talking to, perhaps) and allow you to issue commands.

Built-in support for Wi-Fi 6E means connectivity is covered beyond Bluetooth, and Qualcomm says the wearables will be able to connect directly to cloud-based AI services, agents and applications.