Facebook has partnered with Ray-Ban to launch a range of smart glasses that feature two hidden cameras, allowing you to secretly snap photos and video on the go.
Named Ray-Ban Stories, they cost £299 in the UK ($299 in the US) and come with dual integrated five megapixel cameras, a three microphone array and discreet open-ear speakers.
Images and video captured with Facebook’s glasses can be shared via a smartphone to TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and other social media services.
The launch is thought to be part of Mark Zuckerberg‘s plan for the social media platform to become a ‘metaverse’ seeping into the real world.
The term ‘metaverse,’ coined in the 1992 dystopian novel ‘Snow Crash,’ is used to describe immersive, shared spaces accessed across different platforms where the physical and digital converge.
Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook in 2004, has described the metaverse as an ’embodied internet.’
Glasses with built in cameras and microphones aren’t a new thing, with Snapchat releasing its own glasses called Spectacles in 2016, allowing users to take video and photos from their own eye view.
Facebook has partnered with Ray-Ban to launch a range of smart glasses that feature two hidden cameras allowing you to secretly snap photos and video on the go
Images and video captured with the glasses can be shared via a smartphone to TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and other social media services
Facebook described the Ray-Ban Stories product as a way to seamlessly capture, share and listen through your most authentic moments.
The social media giant worked with EssilorLuxottica, Ray-Ban’s parent company.
‘Ray-Ban Stories is designed to help people live in the moment and stay connected to the people they are with and the people they wish they were with,’ said Andrew Bosworth, VP, Facebook Reality Labs.
‘EssilorLuxottica has been nothing short of stellar in this partnership and through their commitment to excellence we were able to deliver on both style and substance in a way that will redefine the expectations of smart glasses.
‘We’re introducing an entirely new way for people to stay connected to the world around them and truly be present in life’s most important moments, and to look good while doing it.’
The glasses feature a Snapdragon processor and weigh just 50g (1.7oz) – about 5g (0.17oz) more than a standard pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses.
As well as cameras mounted on the top corners of frames, designed to replicate the human-eye view, they include a three-microphone array to ‘deliver rich voice and sound transmission for calls and videos’.
This could pose difficulties for the social media giant, with analysts suggesting it could further erode civil liberties, making it hard for people to avoid the camera.
Kurt Opsahl, deputy executive director and general counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told S&P Global: ‘The rise in popularity of smart glasses could further erode any sense of privacy in public settings.
‘That concern would only be compounded by product launches from big tech companies already facing heightened scrutiny for data-handling practices.’
This is ‘following a number of privacy breaches in recent years,’ Opsahl added.
Named Ray-Ban Stories, they cost £299 ($299) and come with dual integrated five megapixel cameras, a three microphone array and discreet open-ear speakers
Facebook described the Ray-Ban Stories product as a way to seamlessly capture, share and listen through your most authentic moments
‘For millennia, if you’re in a crowd, you have relative privacy because people wouldn’t be able to recognize you [and] might forget that you were there. With always-on cameras, that difficulty sort of disappears.’
The new glasses will work like a remote version of the camera already in a smartphone, with recorded video and photos shared via a smartphone app.
They will be available as sunglasses, prescription glasses, polarised, gradient, transition and clear lenses.
The social media giant worked with EssilorLuxottica, Ray-Ban’s parent company, to engineer smart technology that could be worn all day without compromising style
The glasses feature a Snapdragon processor and weigh just 50g (1.7oz), or about 5g (0.17oz) more than a standard pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses
The new glasses will work like a remote version of the camera already in a smartphone, with recorded video and photos shared via a smartphone app
The frames will require a new companion app called Facebook View, available for iOS and Android, that lets you import, edit and share content captured by the glasses.
‘We are incredibly proud to bring Ray-Ban Stories to life with our partners at Facebook,’ said Rocco Basilico, Chief Wearables Officer at EssilorLuxottica.
‘This is a milestone product that proves consumers don’t have to choose between technology and fashion – they can live in the moment and stay connected while wearing their favourite style of Ray-Ban’s.
The frames will require a companion app called Facebook View, available for iOS and Android, that lets you import, edit and share content captured by the glasses
The Ray-Ban Stories will be available as sunglasses, prescription glasses, polarised, gradient, transition and clear lenses
‘Our unique approach, combining decades of superior craftsmanship, a dedicated spirit of innovation and a commitment to delivering only cutting edge technology has resulted in a wearable that people will truly love wearing.’
The launch is thought to be part of Mark Zuckerberg’s plan for the social media platform to become a ‘metaverse’ seeping into the real world.
He has previously said that augmented reality (AR) glasses are the ‘Holy Grail’ of ‘delivering a sense of presence while not taking you away from the physical world.’
The term ‘metaverse,’ coined in the 1992 dystopian novel ‘Snow Crash,’ is used to describe immersive, shared spaces accessed across different platforms where the physical and digital converge.
Zuckerberg has described it as an ’embodied internet,’ that will include virtual reality, augmented reality, the world wide web and reality.
It has been referenced in several recent earnings calls by tech CEOs.
This includes a call with Zuckerberg, Microsoft Corp’s Satya Nadella, gaming company Roblox Corp’s David Baszucki and Match Group Inc’s Shar Dubey.
They all talked about how their companies could shape aspects of this futuristic realm.
Leo Gebbie, principal analyst, Connected Devices, CCS Insight said: ‘Allowing seamless digital interaction where AR makes it seem like your family and friends are right in front of you is the Holy Grail for many device makers and developers, and I expect to see Facebook heavily focus on this.
‘Still, there will be a plethora of other use cases for AR – gaming, entertainment, and productivity, to name just a few – which will emerge alongside this.
‘As we’ve seen with VR, one use case is not enough, and emerging technologies need to deliver a range of utilities to succeed.’
Apple is also rumoured to be working on its own glasses product, although it is thought they would be a fully augmented reality pair – where the digital world is overlaid on the real world, including maps, chat and contact information.
This is similar to Google Glass, a beta product realised by the tech firm in 2013 that failed to take hold outside of some enterprise uses, including hospitals, due to privacy concerns.
Starting at £299 ($299), the Ray-Ban Stories frames are available from Ray-Ban stores in the UK, US, UK, Italy, Australia, Ireland and Canada today.
As well as cameras mounted on the top corners of frames, they include a three-microphone array to ‘deliver rich voice and sound transmission for calls and videos’
The move is thought to be part of Mark Zuckerberg’s plan for the social media platform to become a ‘metaverse’ seeping into the real world