Forget smart glasses: UW researchers put tiny cameras into earbuds for hands-free AI

VueBuds, a prototype developed by University of Washington researchers who have embedded a rice-grain-sized camera into each earbud of a standard pair of Sony wireless earbuds. (UW Photo) Wireless earbuds seemingly sprang out of nowhere. Popularized by Apple’s AirPods, they were suddenly everywhere — on the subway, in the grocery store, in the ears of the person sitting across from you — until somewhere along the way, they became the thing nearly everyone wears without a second thought.