MALAS student wins award for research on Meta Glasses and their effects on vulnerable populations

Natalie Gonzalez, English and Comparative Literature alumnus (‘26) and current Master of Arts Liberal Arts and Sciences (MALAS) student presented her research at the summer Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs AGLSP annual conference in Dallas.

Gonzalez presented, “Humiliation's New Endeavor: Voyeurism in The Digital Age” in the “Mediated Perspectives: Intelligence, Surveillance, and Narrative Power” session.

“I was very intimidated,” Gonzalez said. “This is because I had never gone to a conference as an undergrad at all, so I did not know what to expect.”

Bill Nericcio, director of MALAS said, “About 30 faculty and graduate students delivered presentations at the conference, with representatives from Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth College, and the University of Exeter in the competition.” Nericcio encouraged Gonzalez to attend and present.  

For this first-time conference presenter, the reward for hard work was second place — and for this new researcher, it was a great way to enter the realm of professional conferences. The first-place winner was from Rice University and the third-place awardee was from Stanford.

The main point of her talk highlighted her belief that Meta Glasses and other kinds of covert recording devices expand a contemporary view of voyeurism beyond the traditional, inherently sexual nature. In her research, she found that using Meta Glasses in social media content generally focuses on vulnerable individuals. 

“I wanted to bring awareness and talk about these things, because even when I was presenting, it sounded like a lot of people didn't know what Meta Glasses were,” she said.

At about $200 a pair, the price point offers an ease of accessibility to many. Gonzalez notes that users make money by presenting their videos on their social media platforms. When sponsorship is offered there is monetization for videos — and young people see this as a viable gig opportunity.

Inspiration for this topic of research was personal. 

“This was something that was definitely fueled by spite — because I work in a very trendy restaurant,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of people go there for the ambiance, but really just to take photos. My coworkers and I have someone recording us with the Meta Glasses daily. They never ask. And, even if they did, there is an uneven power dynamic, especially when you're a tip worker.” 

It is well-known in the hospitality industry that saying ‘no’ to a guest is traditionally frowned upon.  

Gonzalez has encountered other unsolicited recordings while grocery shopping and at the mall. “Someone comes up to me, trying to talk to me, wearing those glasses, and I can see them doing it — I can see the light.” A white LED light appears on the front corner of the eyeglass frame while filming or photographing takes place.

She discovered that there are many social accounts dedicated exclusively to teaching viewers how to remove the recording light from the glasses. Some use a Dremel tool to easily remove them. 

In her presentation she shared that Meta made a statement to say that they are working on safeguards that make it more difficult to remove the light feature. “One of the big points of my talk is that while future generations of these glasses might have physical safeguards in place, currently, it is not happening.” Gonzalez said. On the newest iteration, “there really is no proof.” 

“I honestly did not expect so many people to see what I was saying as important," Gonzalez said. “I thought that it was going to be people saying, ‘Yeah, it's technology, you know, phones can do it — whatever.’”

She ended her talk discussing, Baudrillard, the French sociologist and philosopher who wrote the 1981 essay, “Simulacra and Simulation,” The quote that she cites in her presentation was drawn from some of the last readings she had as a student in Jessica Pressman’s ECL 510 B AI Literatures class (which incidentally will be offered again in spring 2027). 

As soon as she began writing her paper, Gonzalez read through the essay again to dive deeper into the meaning of it — and she found his analysis was applicable to her current research topic. Gonzalez said, “He talks about how in our society we have fallen in line with looking for a reproduction of a reproduction, and I think that it's just pointing to the fetishization of reality.” 

Continuation of the research.

Now as a MALAS student, Gonzalez wants to expand work on the subject. She plans to find more hard statistics about income on posting unsolicited videos. She noticed the difficulty in finding statistics on TikTok posts especially.  “I feel like I want to dive deeper into those types of figures, to show people that this isn't a hobby, this isn't one deranged person, this is many people who are making money off of this, and off of the exploitation of mostly women,” she said.

As she continues on her research path — hoping to one day obtain a Ph.D. and to become a college professor, Gonzalez connects with the mentality of “being uncomfortable.”

“For example, I did not think that I would be taken seriously at this conference,” she said. “ I did not think people would care, and I just prepared as much as I physically could, and I decided that I'm going to express my feelings towards this, and my study, and I hope you guys like it — and people did.”