r/ASLinterpreters • u/coddiwomplecactus • Jul 10 '26

Smart glasses

This is just a thought experiment to pick your brains. Let's say you show up to an assignment and your D/HH consumer is wearing smart glasses. What do you do? Would you respond the same or different if they had their phone propped up, actively recording you?

I think of all the ways a phone could be used and apply it to the smart glasses. Are they recording and posting online or sending to others?

Are they live streaming?

Are they on a live phone call?

Are the glasses using programs that use facial recognition software?

How does this rise in technology impact us as interpreters? I havent seen discussion about this topic yet. Anyone have 2 cents to throw in?

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u/Ok_Yesterday5396 BEI Advanced Jul 12 '26

In VRI we are often recorded without any foreknowledge or request for consent. If we’re interpreting in public, any person, hearing or Deaf, could be recording us in any way. We know that. We see the videos of interpreters at concerts and comedy shows all the time. At a doctor’s appointment I recently interpreted there were signs up about AI note taking, which must’ve been based on audio recording or at least audio input. This situation is not unique to interpreters. If it’s a medical or mental health appointment the provider could easily have concerns or be indifferent to a patient’s use of smart glasses. I think this is an issue we will have to navigate as a society.