Thanks to Jenny Zhang, founder of tech startup Computer Angel, we have (to the best of my knowledge, at least) the world’s first hair clip camera. Although it shares similarities with smart glasses, it also seems like an antidote to other face-worn wearable devices.
I invented a hairclip camera and moved from nyc to shenzhen to make it 🙂 pic.twitter.com/5nyBI6mOw9
– Jenny Z (@cowjuh) 2 April 2026
Zhang, who says she moved from New York to Shenzhen to make it wearable, has been using the hair clip camera as a way to record video recreationally. Based on the example footage, it has a slight lo-fi feel to it. It’s closer to a 2003 flip phone than the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, which are capable of recording in 3K. You probably wouldn’t want to record first-person action sports with this thing, but I personally like the aesthetics. It’s charmingly ugly.
Unlike other wearable devices, it’s not clear whether there are ambitions beyond just recording things – there’s no productivity message here. In this way, the hair clip camera, despite its recording capabilities, feels like a counter to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which come with all kinds of other things to use AI to identify stuff in your environment — a voice assistant and computer vision, for example.
Zhang told Gizmodo that for now, the video recording is the main focus, adding that she “will not reveal anything else at this time.” Take that reaction however you want, but it seems like the door is open to other possibilities.
Can hair clip cameras still be used to spy on people, like smart glasses? Definitely. Although, to be fair, it’s clearly a camera far more than the Meta’s smart glasses, so at least there’s that. However, I would love to see a privacy light on the hair clip camera if it doesn’t already exist.
As you can imagine, the hair clip camera is already bothering some people, though probably not for the reasons you might think. Given the whole hair clip form factor, Zhang has suggested that his hair clip camera is a wearable for women, which rubs some men the wrong way. On the one hand, the point is to say: yes, men can have long hair, too, and they can express themselves in ways that aren’t traditionally masculine. I don’t think anyone in this equation is arguing otherwise.
On the other hand, it will definitely appeal to women more than men. And if you’re bald? I don’t know, use something else? As a bald man, when I say, “Suck it up.” This happens from a place of authority.
Zhang says there are no current pricing details, nor is there a release date, but either way, the hair clip camera is seeming to be a hit with people. Even Pebble’s Eric Migicovsky apparently likes it. so what you say? Are you ready to give your hair a low-resolution video upgrade? Or are you really as bald as you are?
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