Even Realities’ camera-free smart glasses land in Bendigo: The productivity play you need to know about

Even Realities, the camera-free smart glasses startup that raised eyebrows at CES in January, is quietly building a user base in Bendigo’s tech scene. The company’s G1 glasses, which overlay text and navigation cues without recording anyone, hit Australian shelves in March through a limited online drop and have since found a foothold among local developers and remote workers at co-working spots like BRACE and the Bendigo Innovation Hub.

Why no camera matters

The bet is simple: productivity without the privacy creep. Most smart glasses, think Meta’s Ray-Ban Stories or Xreal’s headsets, pack a camera to enable AR features. Even Realities ditched the sensor entirely. Instead, the G1 uses a micro-LED projector that bounces light off the inside of the lens, creating a heads-up display visible only to the wearer. No recording, no bystander anxiety, no ban from cafes.

That matters now because Bendigo’s tech workforce has grown roughly 18 percent since 2024, according to City of Greater Bendigo economic development data, and co-working spaces report an uptick in members who want wearables that don’t creep out colleagues. “The moment you put on glasses with a visible camera, people stop treating you normally,” said a Bendigo-based software engineer who trialled the G1 in June and asked not to be named because their employer hasn’t approved smart glasses yet. “These ones just look like thick frames. You get the info without the stigma.”

Real-world testing in Bendigo

Early adopters in town are using the G1 for two main tasks: pulling calendar reminders and Slack notifications while walking between meetings, and viewing code snippets or documentation hands-free at desks. The glasses pair with a smartphone app and last about eight hours on a charge, enough for a full workday plus the tram ride home.

“It’s not AR in the sense of holograms floating in the air. It’s more like a very small second screen that stays where you put it,” said a local developer who tested a pre-production unit and runs a small Bendigo-based consultancy. The same source noted that the $649 AUD price tag, roughly the cost of a mid-range monitor, has kept adoption niche so far, but pre-orders for the July 27 restock are already climbing.

Even Realities CEO Ryan Jin told TechCrunch earlier this month that the company’s focus on productivity over recording “means we can sell into workplaces that have strict no-camera policies.” Jin did not provide Bendigo-specific sales figures, but the company’s Australian distributor confirmed to The Daily Bendigo that regional Victoria accounts for about 12 percent of domestic orders.

What happens next

For Bendigo businesses that want to try the G1 before buying, the Bendigo Innovation Hub is hosting a casual demo afternoon on July 20 from 2 pm to 4 pm. The event is free, but attendees are asked to register through the Hub’s website because space is limited to 30 people. If the glasses catch on locally, the biggest question is whether Even Realities can keep up with demand: the July 27 restock is the company’s third batch this year, and each previous drop sold out within 48 hours.