Subvocal takes $499 reservations for silent-input glasses

Subvocal announced a $1.3 million raise on October 30 for glasses intended to turn silent articulation into text. Founder Aarush Yadav named Y Combinator and Afore Capital as investors and promoted reservations. The company wants to offer speech-speed computer input in situations where talking aloud is awkward. His announcement linked the live preorder page.

Reservations currently require a United States delivery address. The $499 early-bird price comprises a $199 upfront deposit and a $300 balance after customers choose fit and lens options. Taxes, shipping and optional prescription lenses cost extra. The preorder page estimates the first shipment in the first quarter of 2027.

The founders’ YC launch post describes sending low-power radio waves through the face and measuring changes as speech muscles move. Models decode the signals into text. Yadav claims open-ended decoding above 200 words per minute; the YC post supplies no numerical error rate, participant count or test-sentence description.

The founders say four months of development took them from antennas taped to their faces to glasses with a semi-portable electronics board. Website images show their intended shipping design. Miniaturizing the electronics and collecting population-scale data for short personal calibration remain development steps, according to their launch post.

The FAQ describes intentional articulation: slight mouth movement may be visible up close, while the design aims to make it less noticeable at conversational distances. The company rules out camera-based lip reading and involuntary thought transcription.

Setup would include personal calibration. The FAQ proposes context and corrections for recognition errors. Subvocal is being built as an input method for existing apps, including email, documents, messaging and AI prompts.

The current privacy policy covers preorder information including contact details, billing address, quantity, reservation identifiers and payment status. Stripe handles card details; Subvocal says it does not receive or store complete card numbers. The site also collects device information, page interactions and referral data for analytics.

Its scope is the current website, preorder and referral programs, and related communications. A future product processing voice, sensor or device data will receive a separate or updated notice before processing begins. This reservation policy establishes no sensor-data storage location or retention period for the glasses. Preorder records remain for fulfillment and legal obligations.

Deposits refundable before final payment

The terms limit the batch to 500 pairs. Deposits are refundable for any reason before final payment, fee-free; approved refunds start within seven business days. The balance is not automatically charged. A checkout notice gives customers 30 days to pay.

The hardware remains in development, and specifications, fit and software compatibility may change. Return and warranty terms will be disclosed before final payment, with a deposit-refund choice for material changes. First-quarter shipping is an estimate affected by testing, certification and manufacturing; delays require a revised schedule and the applicable cancellation/refund choice.