Apple Designing Chips for Smart Glasses That Rival Meta Ray-Bans

[cyb3rdud3]

I don't know if glasses like this (Apple, Meta, etc.) would have the capability, or if they would need to have more augmented reality features, but a device that allows for AI-powered live translation of written matter, signs, maps, names of streets and subway stations, etc. would be a boon to travelers if it meant they wouldn't have to stop what they're doing and point a phone at something.

Exactly that is why I like the Even Realities ones. The map instructions are great, but the subtitles and life language translation is just amazing.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

Waiting for glasses that do Live closed captions. It's been the dream of mine since I was 10 years old in 1993 and got my first set of hearing aids. I know they already have some things but I want Apple's take--their live captions on the iPhone work great for me.

They exist, it works brilliantly. Even Realities.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Those Meta Ray-Ban glasses are creepy, but it’s no surprise considering that Mark Zuckerberg is creepy. When Zuckerberg was a student at Harvard in 2003, he made a website called Facemash (which was a precursor to Facebook) that showed pairs of photos of female students from Harvard's online ID directories, and asked users to choose which one was "hotter." Those photos were used without consent.

The reality is that there are cameras everywhere these days. You are constantly being photographed or filmed anytime you are out in crowded urban areas.

Do you remember back in the day when you couldn't take a pic with an iPhone without the fake camera shutter sound going off? The mentality back then was about privacy too. Now every phone and digital camera is silent by default.

The new Meta Ray-Bans have a light showing other people when the cameras are operating. This is the same stupid "privacy" argument as the old iPhone shutter noise. It actually makes the new Ray-Bans a non-starter for me. The lights on front will be a current fad for a while, and then it will pass and none of them will have it.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

I saw the Meta version for the first time in the wild, worn by the son of a friend - we all met up for a drink - and was instantly shy/reluctant to look the son in the eye/etc. It's off-putting, at best.

-bdd

Did ya drink some more beers and get over it

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

I really think trying to rush out glasses is a bad idea. It’s too early for the category. This will result in a flop and look bad for Apple. Let Meta fall down flat one their face. Only 2 million Meta Ray Bans have been sold since 2023 and who knows how often they are actually worn and used the way they are intended. This is a mistake. 2029 or 2030 should be the goal to release. Get the AI right first and keep working on miniaturization.

2 million sales at, what are they, $500 each? So $1B revenue? Not profitable?

 

[Periwinkle85]

Forget the cameras, I want smart lenses that adjust as my Rx adjusts, adjusts to what I’m looking at (close/far) and how bright are my surroundings.

 

[ipedro]

Remember the uproar when Google glass first became a thing because of the privacy concerns about them having a video camera on them? Businesses were even sticking up signs saying “No Google Glass permitted on the premises” etc

Now Meta has this and Apple is on about doing theirs and nobody seems to care.

Google Glass was way ahead of its time. These days, you're in the gym walking out of the shower and there are gym bros making Tik Toks in the locker room. Not that that's ok, but cameras are ubiquitous everywhere and people expect them to be. Google Glass would've had a better chance in this environment.

Given Apple's focus on privacy, I expect their approach to use LiDAR and infrared with an internal loop where the data is processed on device for Visual Intelligence rather than a video feed. Recording first person video should be more explicit and deliberate with a hardwired light when the RGB camera is powered like what happens on Macs.