Novi Sad Dean Confirms Smart Glasses Use for Safety, Activist Claims Secret Filming

Patrik Drid, dean of the University of Novi Sad's Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, has confirmed he wears smart glasses equipped with a camera, stating they serve as an additional personal safety measure. Drid told N1 that the glasses have a clear LED indicator, making it obvious when recording is in progress, and that he uses them because he has been subjected to continuous insults, pressure, and threats.

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The glasses I wear are primarily prescription glasses that I use daily. Additionally, they serve as an extra measure for my personal safety, considering that I have been continuously exposed to insults, pressure, and threats from other individuals for a long time.

He explained that the recordings he posted on Instagram were made in public spaces and captured events of public interest. Drid noted that multiple cameras and mobile phones were present and recording during a gathering outside the University's Rectorate on July 14, where he was also filmed.

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The glasses I own have a clearly visible LED light indicator on the front, which the manufacturer installed precisely so that it would be unequivocally clear to everyone in the immediate vicinity when recording is in progress.

However, activist Robert, who appeared in Drid's Instagram video, disputes this. He stated that he was standing at the back of the gathering, unaware he was being filmed, and that Drid approached him from behind. Robert claimed he reacted with insults because he thought Drid was about to attack him, citing previous assaults.

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I looked to the left and he was coming right at me. When he approached me from behind, I thought he was going to attack me. I have been beaten three times in a year, attacked from behind three times.

Drid maintains that the glasses have a "clearly visible LED light indicator on the front" to ensure recording is obvious to those nearby, asserting that covert recording is not possible with this model.

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I did not know that Patrik Drid was filming me at those moments, nor did such a thing cross my mind, because I know that the dean of the Novi Sad Faculty of Physical Education and Sports usually wears glasses.