Samsung's smart glasses are here, but do I want them?

This past week featured Google I/O, and naturally, Google positioned Gemini front and center. One of the bigger announcements was smart glasses, a collaboration with Samsung, designed by Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

Smart glasses aren't a new concept. Meta already sells them, and they've done reasonably well, at least in the US. But Google wouldn't be Google without Gemini baked in, and that's where things get interesting.

The glasses can give you navigation assistance, show nearby restaurants that match your dietary preferences, summarize notifications and texts, add events to your calendar, and translate languages in real time. That last feature is the one that stands out. Google and Samsung claim the translation audio is designed to mimic the voice of the person you're actually speaking to.

And that's where I started asking myself: do I actually want this?

Take traveling, for example. Every time I visit a new country, I actually enjoy not understanding the language — some words here and there are fine. Not because I'm unwilling to learn, but because to me, it's part of the charm of experiencing a different culture.

People speak freely around you precisely because they assume you don't understand, and there's something authentic about that. These glasses could remove that barrier entirely, and something about that bugs me.

Language is tied to culture. Flattening it like this risks making every interaction feel the same regardless of where you are in the world. That said, it doesn't take away from the fact that, from an engineering standpoint, what Google has achieved here is undoubtedly impressive.

Ultimately, the choice ultimately rests with the consumer. And it's worth remembering that smartwatches faced the same skepticism early on. People questioned whether they needed one, and now they're everywhere. But smart glasses could actually replace them altogether — if the information is already in your field of view, there's little reason to look down at your wrist.

Samsung has suggested more news is coming later this year, likely at Galaxy Unpacked this summer, and that might give us a clearer picture. I'm keeping an open mind for now, but I'm not convinced yet.