Facebook's new smart glasses, Ray-Ban Stories, have arrived, bringing video recording capability to eyewear. While not the first device of this kind, there is more to the design than simply documenting a moment for social media and this really might launch a new type of wearable. While Ray-Ban Stories is going to face some heavy scrutiny for privacy and practicality concerns, this is clearly the type of device that had to be made by someone given the ongoing explosion of sharing via social media.
The smart glasses produced before haven't seen much success. Snap, the company that develops the social media app, Snapchat, also developed 'Spectacles' video-recording glasses in 2016. Spectacles record videos in an odd, round shape that can be shared to Snapchat. Recognizing this as a niche product, Snapchat limited sales to a specially designed, wacky-looking vending machine. Snap made a second and third generation of Spectacles but the improved versions with greater availability still fell flat. Several companies have tried with audio only versions but they never really took off with consumers. A prototype of Google Glass was revealed in 2012 and actually provided a heads-up display, although it was quite tiny and only on one side. Despite breaking new ground and generating a fair amount of excitement, privacy concerns led to its early demise.
Facebook's new smart glasses are called Ray-Ban Stories, possibly an attempt to draw attention away from the fact that Facebook is behind all of the hardware and software. Ray-Ban clearly played a big role in the design and these are some stylish-looking sunglasses, despite the slightly wide earpieces and twin cameras at the outside corners. At first glance, they appear to be classic Ray-Bans and the weight gain is just five grams over a pair of regular Wayfarers. While their primary purpose is to record video and take photos, the capabilities of these new smart glasses extend beyond that. Each camera captures 5-megapixel images that are stored on the glasses in an encrypted format. The glasses also have microphones and respond to verbal commands such as "Facebook, take a video." There's also a physical button to record videos and take photos. Music playback is also possible and calls from a paired smartphone can be answered as well.
Privacy Concerns Remain
Starting at $299, Ray-Ban Stories is a compelling smart device that doubles as a nice pair of glasses. The lenses can be customized to accommodate prescription eyeglass needs and a wide variety of colors and styles are available. Naturally, the big question is about privacy. Having a strong tie-in with Facebook might lead to the fear that a continuous live stream might be sent to social media. Thankfully, that is not the case. Approximately thirty videos can be stored or 500 photos on the glasses until downloading to the paired smartphone via a companion app. That content can then be edited and shared to social media or saved to the phone's camera roll for use later. Battery life is claimed to be a surprising six hours and the charging case can replenish the glasses three times.
Google ran into trouble with its Google Glass project due to a strong and sudden burst of anger over being recorded without permission. The project continues but only for use within the business industry, leaving the public with its privacy intact. Facebook intends to navigate these troubled waters by lighting an LED on the front of the frame when it's recording and that is about all that was mentioned. With smartphones, drones, security cameras, car cameras, and cameras generally appearing everywhere, the truth is that privacy ends the moment a person steps outside their home, so additional concern about Ray-Ban Stories might be overblown, even though it could still cripple this interesting new product. Facebook and Ray-Ban's price is tempting, and the ease and comfort of a super-lightweight GoPro that allows answering calls is intriguing, and might just catch on.
Source: Ray-Ban