Tianjin, in northern China, is the country’s fourth most populous municipality after Shanghai, Beijing, and Chongqing, home to more than 15 million people. That enormous concentration of residents demands unusual measures to keep order and maintain public safety.

That may well be what local administrators had in mind when they decided to equip the city’s police with smart glasses capable of identifying people, managing traffic, and tracking down fugitives. It is a step toward the future of surveillance — and, at the same time, a vast ethical problem for privacy and freedom of movement.

How the smart glasses work

The smart glasses worn by Chinese police have a facial recognition accuracy of more than 95% and “respond” within a few milliseconds. They weigh roughly 40 grams, and the battery lasts between one and two hours of continuous use.

The device is manufactured entirely in China, both the hardware and the software.

Beyond the design and the technical specs, it is the capabilities that stand out. The “smart” glasses are used for traffic management, patrolling, and urban security, thanks to their ability to recognize text, interpret voice commands, scan the surrounding environment, and pull answers from a connected database.

The first real-world applications

The first accounts officers gave to local media were enthusiastic. An officer from the Jiefang Street precinct said that, thanks to the glasses, he was able to identify a disoriented elderly man who was unable to speak and bring him home in just 20 minutes.

The results in managing traffic outside schools have also been strong. Parents of students can pre-register their vehicle’s license plate on a platform the glasses can “consult” in real time.

That lets officers recognize authorized vehicles, manage drop-offs for the children’s safety, and divert other cars during peak hours.

The future of surveillance and the risks to privacy

Smart glasses with facial recognition were in fact already used in China back in 2018, when they delivered strong results at Zhengzhou East railway station in locating fugitives and detecting cases of identity fraud.

That, however, was an isolated episode tied to the management of the Lunar New Year, a period of extreme movement across the country.

In this case, by contrast, we are talking about a component embedded within a full-fledged urban security ecosystem. And all of this only heightens privacy concerns. The glasses make it easier to identify missing individuals and help reduce the number of accidents. But in exchange, they “ask” people to hand over their personal data and their vehicle plates.

And the coming arrival of robotic dogs, humanoid robots, and intelligent police vehicles could make the situation even more complex — and strip Chinese citizens of the last scraps of freedom they have managed to hold on to.

Editor’s note

This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Andrea Fabbri on June 07, 2026 as «I poliziotti cinesi hanno iniziato a usare occhiali intelligenti per identificare persone e auto». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.