SMART GLASSES HAVE ARRIVED
THE FUTURE OF
PERSONAL TECH IS HERE
For years, we were promised smart glasses. The hardware slowly caught up but the AI wasn't ready. Then, the AI became ready but the software wasn't.
That's why we built MentraOS. The first open-source operating system designed specifically for smart glasses.
Mentra's story began with a simple belief: smart glasses are the inevitable next step in how we interact with technology. AI is only as good as the context you give it.
Smart glasses are the only interface that gives AI what it needs most to maximize its utility: what you see, what you hear, and where you are all in real time.
We've been promised smart glasses for years. But when we started, the AI, hardware, and software weren't ready.
In 2024, the AI caught up, the hardware caught up, but the software still wasn't ready.
That's why we built MentraOS - the open operating system for smart glasses.
Mentra's story began with a simple belief: smart glasses are the inevitable next step in how we interact with technology.
This is because:
1. 150 times a day, we pull out our phones to hold the display to our eyes, speakers to our ears, and sensors to face the world. It's inevitable we use smart glasses to move the display to our eyes, the speakers to our ears, and the sensors to face the world around us
2. AI is only as good as the context you give it. Smart glasses let AI see what you see, hear what you hear, and know where you are - all in real time. It's inevitable we give them this context.
OUR ROOTS
In 2018, Cayden saw this impending shift and built his first pair of smart glasses in his university dorm. In 2021, our founders were working on this vision from different angles. Cayden was building beam-forming audio smart glasses in his college dorm, and Israelov experimented with display technology. They connected on Reddit, teamed up, and within a year presented OpenSourceSmartGlasses at CES 2023.
OUR ROOTS
In 2018, Cayden saw this impending shift and built his first pair of smart glasses in his university dorm. In 2021, our founders were working on this vision from different angles. Cayden was building beam-forming audio smart glasses in his college dorm, and Israelov experimented with display technology. They connected on Reddit, teamed up, and within a year presented OpenSourceSmartGlasses at CES 2023.
That experience led to a greater realization:
Just as smartphones needed Android, smart glasses need a dedicated operating system.
That idea became MentraOS.
By late 2024, the team went all in. Cayden dropped out of MIT, Israelov quit his job, and they committed full time. Backed by Y Combinator, Mentra is now building the hardware and operating system to power the future of smart glasses.
That experience led to a greater realization:
Just as smartphones needed Android, smart glasses need a dedicated operating
system. That idea became MentraOS
By late 2024, the team went all in. Cayden dropped out of MIT, Israelov quit his job, and they committed to building MentraOS full time. Backed by Y Combinator, Mentra is now building the hardware and operating system to power the future of smart glasses.
CRUCIAL PROBLEMS SOLVED
With MentraOS, we solved two critical problems:
1. Shared Context
Multiple apps can run at the same time, simultaneously accessing what you see, hear, and where you are so your AI tools can work together seamlessly.
2. One Platform, Many Glasses
Developers can build a single app for iOS and Android that runs on any pair of smart glasses that support MentraOS, creating a thriving ecosystem.
OPEN SOURCE BY DESIGN
We believe the future of smart glasses should be open. That's why MentraOS is fully open-source because innovation, freedom, and community-driven progress lead to the best platforms.
Smart glasses are the next personal computing revolution. By keeping the platform open, we're ensuring it's a revolution everyone can take part in.
By rethinking the operating system from the ground up—and making it open-source—we've built the foundation for the future of wearable AI.
CRUCIAL PROBLEMS SOLVED
With MentraOS, we solved two critical problems:
1. Shared Context
Multiple apps can run at the same time, simultaneously accessing what you see, hear, and where you are so your AI tools can work together seamlessly.
2. One Platform, Many Glasses
Developers can build a single app for iOS and Android that runs on any pair of smart glasses that support MentraOS, creating a thriving ecosystem.
OPEN SOURCE BY DESIGN
We believe the future of smart glasses should be open. That's why MentraOS is fully open-source because innovation, freedom, and community-driven progress lead to the best platforms.
Smart glasses are the next personal computing revolution. By keeping the platform open, we're ensuring it's a revolution everyone can take part in.
By rethinking the operating system from the ground up—and making it open-source—we've built the foundation for the future of wearable AI.
MEET THE FOUNDERS
Cayden Pierce
CEO/CTO/FOUNDER
Cayden leads Mentra, overseeing software, hardware, and operations across San Francisco and Shenzhen.
Seven years ago, he set out to bridge mind and machine. That mission took him from building custom smart glasses with Steve Mann (inventor of smart glasses), to traveling North America in an RV hacker lab and developing AI agents at MIT. In 2024, he left MIT to build the OS for the next 8 billion personal computers.
Alexander Israelov
HEAD OF SOFTWARE/FOUNDER
Israelov leads Mentra's software team in San Francisco, building MentraOS.
In 2021, a small shard of glass launched into his right eye, and he needed glasses for the first time. He immediately saw the potential of smart eyewear and began building smart glasses in his dorm room. He's led open source smart glasses projects since then and co-founded Mentra in 2024.
MEET THE FOUNDERS
CEO/CTO/FOUNDER
Cayden Pierce
Cayden leads Mentra, overseeing software, hardware, and operations across San Francisco and Shenzhen.
Seven years ago, he set out to bridge mind and machine. That mission took him from building custom smart glasses with Steve Mann (inventor of smart glasses), to traveling North America in an RV hacker lab and developing AI agents at MIT. In 2024, he left MIT to build the OS for the next 8 billion personal computers.
HEAD OF SOFTWARE/FOUNDER
Alexander Israelov
Israelov leads Mentra's software team in San Francisco, building MentraOS.
In 2021, a small shard of glass launched into his right eye, and he needed glasses for the first time. He immediately saw the potential of smart eyewear and began building smart glasses in his dorm room. He's led open source smart glasses projects since then and co-founded Mentra in 2024.
THE TEAM BEHIND MENTRA
Founding Engineer, Head of Apps
Nicolo Micheletti
Nicolo leads app development at Mentra, bouncing between Shenzhen and San Francisco.
In recent years, he's built several projects at the intersection of proactive AI and smart glasses, and previously conducted research in generative AI and natural language processing. In late 2024, he dropped out of Tsinghua University in Beijing to work on MentraOS.
Founding Engineer, Head of Cloud
Isaiah Ballah
Isaiah, founding engineer and Head of Cloud.
Known for juggling 100 personal projects at once, he dropped all of them to focus on building MentraOS. Initially invited to hack on the platform for a single week, he flew from Seattle to San Francisco in February 2025 to build out the cloud platform… He's been here ever since. Isaiah interned at Google and Tableau, he first collaborated with Cayden during their undergraduate years, hacking on wearables, now he's building the future of smart glasses with Mentra.
Head of Hardware
Thomas Tee
Thomas leads Mentra's hardware team in Shenzhen, building custom smart glasses hardware.
Thomas previously built fitness trackers at FitBit, tablets and mice at Microsoft, smart watches at Fossil, and has worked in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. He utilizes his 20 year of experience in consumer electronics manufacturing and fluency in 5 languages to build the world's most advanced smart glasses hardware.
Head of Product Growth
Nathan Lee
Nathan bridges customer insights with product strategy and growth.
He joined Mentra as a software engineer and has since expanded to lead the translation of user needs into product direction and marketing initiatives. His passion for wearables emerged from a personal project—building a watch that helped him manage his medication schedule. Today, he serves as the connection between customers and our engineers.
Head of Visual Production
Daniel Oh
Daniel leads all things visual at Mentra, shaping the brand's creative direction and storytelling across video, design, and product marketing.
He specializes in turning complex ideas into cinematic, accessible visuals that inspire both developers and everyday users. At Mentra, Daniel is focused on crafting a distinct visual identity that captures the company's mission to build the next platform for personal computing.
Head of Developer Experience
Roger Pincombe
Roger leads developer experience at Mentra, building the dev platform and SDK, and running developer events.
He's been developing smart glasses apps since making teleprompter, karaoke, and facial recognizer on Google Glass. He has over a decade as a senior Software Engineer at places like Adobe and Microsoft, founded multiple startups, and won over 15 hackathons.
Head of Eyewear Design
Carl Allen
Carl leads Mentra's eyewear design - from initial sketches to working hand-in-hand with the mechanical, electronics, and manufacturing teams.
He's an eyewear designer with over 20 years of experience, including 10 years of experience in smart eyewear, and has designed eyewear for organizations like Calvin Klein and Nike.
Head of China Logistics
Celine Yixiaqian
Celine is Mentra's point person for logistics, business, and hiring in Shenzhen.
She utilizes fluency in 5 languages to help coordinate operations across China, Hong Kong, and worldwide. She's a licensed legal professional with over 10 years in law and tax in China. Celine is a force of nature - for your own sake, please never tell her something can't be done.
Advisor, Wearables/Micro-electronics/HCI/Startups
Tomas Vega
Tomas is an expert in human augmentation technologies.
He spent years at UC Berkeley and MIT Media Lab building technology to upgrade human capabilities. Now, he's CEO/CTO/Founder of Augmental, building the highest bandwidth hands-free mouse ever made for hundreds of paralyzed users. Tomas provides invaluable wearables, micro-electronics, and startup advise.
Advisor, Spatial Computing/Memetics/Startups
Nils Pihl
Nils is an expert in meme theory and spatial computing.
He's spent the last decade building startups after a career as a behavioural engineer advising organization like the World Bank and Apple. Nils advises Mentra on spatial computing, go-to-market, and memetics.
Advisor, AI/Personal Intelligence
Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram is a world reknowned genius known for his work in AI, math, and physics.
He's CEO of Wolfram Research; Creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha & Wolfram Language; and Author of A New Kind of Science and other books. Stephen provides advise around AI and personal intelligence systems.
Advisor, Strategy/Finance/GTM
Terry Huhtala
Terry is a veteran operator and financial strategist with decades of experience across the automotive and manufacturing industries.
He previously served as CFO of Nemak, overseeing $40B in revenue, and held senior leadership roles at Ford. As the former founder and CEO of a Mexican tool and die company, he brings relentless founder energy and a track record of solving complex problems on an international scale. Terry advises Mentra on strategy, go-to-market, and finance.
THE TEAM BEHIND MENTRA
Founding Engineer, Head of Apps
Nicolo Micheletti
Nicolo leads app development at Mentra, bouncing between Shenzhen and San Francisco.
In recent years, he's built several projects at the intersection of proactive AI and smart glasses, and previously conducted research in generative AI and natural language processing. In late 2024, he dropped out of Tsinghua University in Beijing to work on MentraOS.
Founding Engineer, Head of Cloud
Isaiah Ballah
Isaiah, founding engineer and Head of Cloud.
Known for juggling 100 personal projects at once, he dropped all of them to focus on building MentraOS. Initially invited to hack on the platform for a single week, he flew from Seattle to San Francisco in February 2025 to build out the cloud platform… He's been here ever since. Isaiah interned at Google and Tableau, he first collaborated with Cayden during their undergraduate years, hacking on wearables, now he's building the future of smart glasses with Mentra.
Head of Hardware
Thomas Tee
Thomas leads Mentra's hardware team in Shenzhen, building custom smart glasses hardware.
Thomas previously built fitness trackers at FitBit, tablets and mice at Microsoft, smart watches at Fossil, and has worked in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. He utilizes his 20 year of experience in consumer electronics manufacturing and fluency in 5 languages to build the world's most advanced smart glasses hardware.
Head of Product Growth
Nathan Lee
Nathan bridges customer insights with product strategy and growth.
He joined Mentra as a software engineer and has since expanded to lead the translation of user needs into product direction and marketing initiatives. His passion for wearables emerged from a personal project—building a watch that helped him manage his medication schedule. Today, he serves as the connection between customers and our engineers.
Head of Visual Production
Daniel Oh
Daniel leads all things visual at Mentra, shaping the brand's creative direction and storytelling across video, design, and product marketing.
He specializes in turning complex ideas into cinematic, accessible visuals that inspire both developers and everyday users. At Mentra, Daniel is focused on crafting a distinct visual identity that captures the company's mission to build the next platform for personal computing.
Head of Developer Experience
Roger Pincombe
Roger leads developer experience at Mentra, building the dev platform and SDK, and running developer events.
He's been developing smart glasses apps since making teleprompter, karaoke, and facial recognizer on Google Glass. He has over a decade as a senior Software Engineer at places like Adobe and Microsoft, founded multiple startups, and won over 15 hackathons.
Head of Eyewear Design
Carl Allen
Carl leads Mentra's eyewear design - from initial sketches to working hand-in-hand with the mechanical, electronics, and manufacturing teams.
He's an eyewear designer with over 20 years of experience, including 10 years of experience in smart eyewear, and has designed eyewear for organizations like Calvin Klein and Nike.
Head of China Logistics
Celine Yixiaqian
Celine is Mentra's point person for logistics, business, and hiring in Shenzhen.
She utilizes fluency in 5 languages to help coordinate operations across China, Hong Kong, and worldwide. She's a licensed legal professional with over 10 years in law and tax in China. Celine is a force of nature - for your own sake, please never tell her something can't be done.
Advisor, Wearables/Micro-electronics/HCI/Startups
Tomas Vega
Tomas is an expert in human augmentation technologies.
He spent years at UC Berkeley and MIT Media Lab building technology to upgrade human capabilities. Now, he's CEO/CTO/Founder of Augmental, building the highest bandwidth hands-free mouse ever made for hundreds of paralyzed users. Tomas provides invaluable wearables, micro-electronics, and startup advise.
Advisor, Spatial Computing/Memetics/Startups
Nils Pihl
Nils is an expert in meme theory and spatial computing.
He's spent the last decade building startups after a career as a behavioural engineer advising organization like the World Bank and Apple. Nils advises Mentra on spatial computing, go-to-market, and memetics.
Advisor, AI/Personal Intelligence
Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram is a world reknowned genius known for his work in AI, math, and physics.
He's CEO of Wolfram Research; Creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha & Wolfram Language; and Author of A New Kind of Science and other books. Stephen provides advise around AI and personal intelligence systems.
Advisor, Strategy/Finance/GTM
Terry Huhtala
Terry is a veteran operator and financial strategist with decades of experience across the automotive and manufacturing industries.
He previously served as CFO of Nemak, overseeing $40B in revenue, and held senior leadership roles at Ford. As the former founder and CEO of a Mexican tool and die company, he brings relentless founder energy and a track record of solving complex problems on an international scale. Terry advises Mentra on strategy, go-to-market, and finance.