During the upcoming Republic Day 2026 celebrations, the Delhi Police will equip select personnel with AI-powered smart glasses featuring facial recognition and thermal imaging capabilities to enhance security during the parade on January 26. This marks the first use of such AI wearable technology in crowd monitoring for a major national event in the capital.
More than a dozen officers deployed in high-density areas around Kartavya Path will wear the black-coloured, flip-up lens smart glasses developed by Indian tech startup AznaLens. The devices function as mobile surveillance units, scanning faces in real time and matching them against the police database of criminals, suspects, and proclaimed offenders. Matches exceeding a 60% similarity threshold trigger alerts displayed on the officers’ smartphones, replacing traditional fixed facial recognition system (FRS) vans.
Delhi Police’s AI smart glasses: Real-time face recognition and AI age progression
The glasses integrate Automated Facial Recognition Software (AFRS), which Delhi Police has utilised since 2018, along with thermal imaging for enhanced detection. A standout capability is AI-driven image updating, i.e., even if the database holds an outdated photo from decades ago (e.g., 1990), the system generates a current facial likeness to improve identification accuracy.
Additional overlays include green bounding boxes around scanned faces, estimated age and height data, and split-screen comparisons between live footage and database records. The technology allows officers to monitor crowds dynamically while on the move, addressing limitations of stationary camera setups in densely packed areas.
Additional Commissioner of Police Devesh Mahla explained the rationale to the Indian Express, stating, “Last year, we realised that instead of deploying vans to monitor multiple cameras, we could enable police personnel to use FRS in real time, especially in crowded areas.” He added, “Even if our system has a picture of someone from 1990, the headset will use AI to generate an updated facial image after 35 years and produce a likeness that resembles the person’s current appearance.”
Broader security arrangements for Republic Day 2026
The smart glasses deployment forms part of a multi-layered security plan involving over 30,000 personnel, drone surveillance, and advanced AI-based video analytics. The initiative builds on Delhi Police’s existing FRS-CCTV network, which has been used in previous high-profile events to identify threats and missing persons.
AznaLens, an XR (extended reality) specialist, collaborated with Delhi Police starting last year to adapt the technology for real-time, on-foot applications. Officials view this as a step toward more agile, personnel-centric surveillance in future public events. While it raises ongoing discussions about privacy and accuracy in facial recognition systems, it has the potential to boost efficiency in crowd control and criminal detection.
