These glasses let you 'see' conversations in real time

(KTLA) - When I heard about AI glasses that let you "see" what people are saying, I was skeptical. But after trying them on, I was proven wrong.

The Hearview AI Subtitle Glasses give you closed captions for the real world.

The right lens has a small, transparent display that shows you conversations, but you can still see the people you're talking to.

"The mission is... using the technology to help others," said Ting Chen, vice president of marketing for the company behind the glasses.

The glasses are lightweight but a bit thicker than your typical spectacles.

They connect wirelessly to a smartphone, which uses the Hearview app to listen to what people are saying. Those conversations are transcribed in near real time using AI, and then the words are displayed on the tiny see through screen.

The system seems to be very accurate and works with 13 languages - and although there is a bit of a delay, it won't necessarily matter if you can't hear the words being spoken out loud.

The glasses come in one style but can be outfitted with a magnetic sunglass clip or prescription lenses. The battery lasts about 7 hours on a charge.

The result is impressive and potentially very useful for the hard of hearing.

"So far, overwhelmingly positive. The folks who have purchased the glasses, used it in the community, they loved it," said Chen.

The downside? The price. Hearview glasses retail for about $2,000, but are often on sale for less.

The company says the price could come down as the tech evolves.

Various other big tech firms are working on glasses that could perform similar functionality - including Apple's Vision Pro, Meta's Project Orion and Snapchat's Spectacles.

However, all of those solutions are either still in development or, in the case of Vision Pro, too bulky and pricey to be used on the go.

"This is a very, very powerful new tool so that it can enrich the life of many (in the) deaf community," concluded Chen.

Up next, Hearview is working on AI that can translate sign language into text.