Zuckerberg’s Meta AI Ray-Ban glasses evolve into creepy live-stream cam

You might think that sunglasses are just for blocking the sun or making a fashion statement. That’s not what Mark Zuckerberg envisions with the relaunch of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. The previous smart glasses version from the joint venture was a flop failing to gain broad consumer traction.

 

A new way to connect or a creepy invasion of privacy?

Zuckerberg is not giving up on his vision of creating a wearable device that can do more than just capture and share photos and videos.

The new smart glasses are designed to connect you to the metaverse, the virtual world that Zuckerberg believes will revolutionize social interaction with its Meta AI and live-streaming capabilities. But those capabilities also give creeps the ability to live video stream with the device’s hidden cameras. Translation – you can be spied on and not even know it.

Credit: Meta

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The glasses, which cost $299 and look like regular Ray-Ban sunglasses, have two discreet cameras that allow you to capture photos and videos with a simple tap or voice command.

They also have a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera that can capture photos and videos in a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is more suitable for social media platforms. The camera also has enhanced stabilization and low-light performance

As for the battery life, up to four hours on a single charge and an additional 32 hours with the charging case. The charging case is also 32% lighter than the previous version.

Credit: Meta

You can share photos and videos taken with the glasses on 3 platforms – Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, or store them on the cloud.

The glasses also have enhanced speakers that are 50% louder than the original glasses that came out in 2021 and let you listen to music, podcasts, or phone calls.

They are available in different styles, colors, and lens options, and you can customize them on the Ray-Ban remix platform.

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How the smart glasses can translate and recognize anything you look at

What makes these glasses significantly different from the previous version that was launched in 2021 is the addition of artificial intelligence capabilities.

Credit: Meta

According to Zuckerberg, who unveiled the glasses at the Meta Connect 2023 event, the glasses will soon be able to do real-time language translations and object recognition.

Credit: Meta

For example, you could ask Meta AI how to fix a broken faucet that it sees through your lenses or what is the name of the flower that you are looking at.

Credit: Meta

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How do I know if the smart glasses are recording?

The new Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses have a privacy LED light that indicates when they are recording. The light is located next to the right lens and is brighter and larger than the previous model. It is white in color and can be seen from the corner of your eye on the frame.

Credit: Meta

Critics raise privacy and ethical concerns over Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses

It’s for this reason and more that critics have raised concerns about the invasion of privacy and ethical issues that these glasses pose. They argue that the glasses make it easy for people to record others without their consent or knowledge and that the data collected by the glasses could be used for malicious purposes by Meta or third parties. They also point out that the glasses could distract users from their surroundings and cause accidents or injuries.

 

The ghost of Google Glass

These are not new problems. In fact, they are similar to the ones that Google faced when it launched its Google Glass project in 2013. Google Glass was a pair of smart glasses that had similar features as Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, but it failed to gain popularity and was discontinued in 2015. One of the main reasons for its failure was the backlash from the public, who thought that they were creepy.

Credit: Google

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Kurt’s key takeaways

Do you think they are a cool innovation or a creepy invasion of privacy? Would you buy them or avoid them? Let us know by commenting below.

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17 comments

Steven October 21, 2023 - 4:09 pm
I suffer from memory difficulties, especially faces and names. What I am looking for in smart glasses is the ability to tell me who I'm talking to. This will relieve my social anxiety. When you can't remember people they think it's because you don't care. I'm not asking it to ID strangers, b that would be creepy, I just need it to help me when I forget someone I already know.
Perry October 22, 2023 - 4:17 am
That would be handy. It could tie into my contacts on my phone and display their name and contact info while.Ill talking to them.
HM October 22, 2023 - 8:37 am
My opinion part of the flop was because you could never see the glasses in action. So you have no idea the quality of the photos or video because they would never let you try them. You had to buy them straight away without ever seeing how they perform. Really stupid move. They should be demoing these everywhere because if the functionality is good people will buy them including myself. I'm a professional equestrian and I can't tell you how helpful it is to have phone, camera, music all on your glasses. Currently I use Bose glasses because they have a sport version that stays on while I'm riding and I can play music and answer calls if needed without having to have earbuds in my ears that prevent me from hearing properly. Hopefully there will be some demos on these new glasses or at least a return policy!
R. Valentine October 22, 2023 - 10:57 am
Nice article , I enjoyed the way you covered most of the pertinent issues .
Han October 22, 2023 - 5:08 pm
It’s not illegal to photograph or film anything including people in public places because there is no legally supported expectation of privacy in public.
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