AI Headphones as Privacy Vector

Over‑ear headphones with integrated cameras and near/far microphones (plus on‑device AI) are emerging as an alternative wearable form factor to smart glasses. They promise better battery life and more private audio, but they also relocate persistent visual and audio capture closer to users’ faces and domestic spaces, creating new ambient‑surveillance and consent challenges. — This reframes wearable governance: regulators and publics must treat headphones not just as audio devices but as potential multimodal sensing platforms that implicate consent, bystander privacy, and platform data practices.