Eyewear comprises a microphone and a speaker. An eyewear neck strap couples the microphone and speaker to a wearer unit carried by the eyewear wearer. The wearer unit exchanges wireless signals with a base station. The base station is coupled to various devices such as surgical theater equipment, and/or to a telecommunication system, such as a telephone system. The eyewear enables the wearer to conduct hands-free communication such as telephone conversations and command and control operations, as well as to perform other hands-free tasks such as dictation. The wearer also receives data in audio form or as an image using a video display coupled with the eyewear.