Apple Glasses Reportedly Launching in 'Late 2027' With These Features

[bbeagle]

That's very true, but that's not really the point. Whether legal or not, it's still gross and weird and I'm not sure why anyone would want to covertly record their surroundings. It's creepy and only appeals to creeps. What's the legitimate use case for recording people in public all the time?

I do it all the time when I'm driving. I have cameras in my car in case of an accident. If I also drive by something funny or weird, I can go back and look at my old video.

Situationally, it's very odd.

Car cameras have become very normal. When I pick my kids up from school, I park and wait for them, my car is recording dozens of other kids coming out of the school. Nobody thinks anything of it. But if I did the same by holding up my iPhone and recording everything, someone would call the cops on me as a creep.

Similarly, I have cameras outside my home monitoring my front yard and the cars in my driveway. It's normal. It's not normal if I stood out there with my iPhone recording 24/7.

 

[lilkwarrior]

Most creepy product ever invented.

If you want to be that extremely cynical, wait till you realize spatial computing lenses exist.

There’s also an argument drones that can be maliciously used to be aerial paparazzi thousands of feet above people with far higher definition cameras than be considered more “creepier”.

 

[macshmack]

I do it all the time when I'm driving. I have cameras in my car in case of an accident. If I also drive by something funny or weird, I can go back and look at my old video.

Situationally, it's very odd.

Car cameras have become very normal. When I pick my kids up from school, I park and wait for them, my car is recording dozens of other kids coming out of the school. Nobody thinks anything of it. But if I did the same by holding up my iPhone and recording everything, someone would call the cops on me as a creep.

Similarly, I have cameras outside my home monitoring my front yard and the cars in my driveway. It's normal. It's not normal if I stood out there with my iPhone recording 24/7.

so the new 'normal' is everyone walking around with a dashcam on their nose because, to follow your logic, standing in someone's face filming them is just a routine security precaution?

 

[joiwomcow]

I use meta glasses... * ducks flying chairs, beer bottles, etc * for turn-by turn navigation when cycling. For this, they are outstanding. Unlike airpods you retain full auditory awareness of your surroundings. And you can request information hands-free. Just needs better integration with maps.

 

[BGrifter]

I’m open to the idea they could have medical applications, but first the category has to be wrenched back from the perverts/creeps/socially maladjusted weirdos. Early efforts in the category did a lot of damage to public perception.

Right now wearing them is a massive red flag to everyone around you. It’s going to take work to rebuild consumer trust.

 

[dominiongamma]

Hope they ban these everywhere

 

[CEmajr]

I don't see the use case for these in terms of mass appeal. AirPods are earphones and everyone listens to music. Apple Watch was able to succeed off the health/fitness angle and it's a watch. These glasses don't seem to have appeal outside of people who make content on social media. I just don't see the average person having a good use case for them. Unless Apple is planning for them to just be a niche product.

 

[klasma]

When I think about my day, I just can't understand how a product like this really helps me. I can understand specific use cases. Travel, for example. Having glasses with an AR display that performs live translation would be fantastic. But in every day life? Without an AR display?

Whenever you want to know something about what you see, you can ask the chatbot. And you can tell it to add something related to your reminders or calendar, or send a message to someone, or whatever. Of course you can also do all these things with a smartphone, but smart glasses are hands-free, and you don’t have to keep looking at your smartphone. Without the camera function, AirPods could do the same job. The camera adds functions with visual input in addition to auditory input.

I wouldn’t have much use for this myself, but I can see how other people would find it convenient.

 

[bbeagle]

These glasses don't seem to have appeal outside of people who make content on social media. I just don't see the average person having a good use case for them. Unless Apple is planning for them to just be a niche product.

There are many use cases.

1. When walking in New York City, London, Paris, etc. you can be notified of restaurants that are empty vs. full, directions to the nearest subway station and time of the next trains to your route.
2. When walking in Disney World, Universal, etc. you can be notified of wait times to rides around you, times for the next parade or show, and directions to get to the attraction you want.
3. When walking, hiking or biking trails you can be given directions or notifications like 'route ends in 10 minutes' without checking your phone or watch.
4. Your glasses could notice friends or contacts you're walking by - or are near. And notify you - 'Your friend Jennifer is checking you out across the street'
5. Your glasses could watch out for and alert you to creepy people around you who AI thinks might rob or attack you. If this becomes a well made commercial, these could sell like hot cakes.

 

[BGrifter]

There are many use cases.

Reads like a list of things that could just as easily be done on a phone or Apple Watch?

I’m not convinced it’s worth making everyone around me uncomfortable just to avoid having to glance at my wrist.

 

[elemenohme]

How do smart glasses accommodate people who need prescriptive lenses?

You either order lenses at point of purchase, from a local optometrist, or from one of a zillion online optical shops. Apple already does this for Vision Pro and there are lots of companies marking Rx lenses for the Meta glasses already.

 

[lilkwarrior]

Hope they ban these everywhere

They’re usually not banned in concerts and clubs because they actually enable less visual noise from stages with their users being more active, present, and hands free to buy their concessions.

They also have very handy features to get things done faster and easier such as live captions to hear what significant others say and notifications from them without interrupting someone’s groove.

They’re also more obvious with their recording indicators that someone is recording unlike phones.

 

[macshmack]

4. Your glasses could notice friends or contacts you're walking by - or are near. And notify you - 'Your friend Jennifer is checking you out across the street.
Jennifer is wearing yesterday's tshirt and looks horrified you've noticed her checking you out. Jennifer's blood pressure going up! Jennifer is running away! walk straigh then take first left to cut her off.'

new text message from Jennifer: 'bye, you creepy creep x'

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I can’t think of anything more embarrassing than listening to someone in front of me - “Mmhhmm, yeah, mmm, ohh” - knowing full well that THEY know my glasses are focused on them.

Intrusive beyond belief.

 

[EM2013]

So dumb i see no point of this. A product that just allows people to record others without permission.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Whenever you want to know something about what you see, you can ask the chatbot. And you can tell it to add something related to your reminders or calendar, or send a message to someone, or whatever. Of course you can also do all these things with a smartphone, but smart glasses are hands-free, and you don’t have to keep looking at your smartphone. Without the camera function, AirPods could do the same job. The camera adds functions with visual input in addition to auditory input.

I wouldn’t have much use for this myself, but I can see how other people would find it convenient.

While I can see the use cases you outlined, I'm not sure how many people really care about any of that stuff, especially without an AR screen. Are people really going to sit there and listen to the AI tell them about what they're seeing? I feel like the novelty will wear off VERY FAST. I'm also not sure people want to compose messages, especially lengthy ones, without being able to see them before sending. How many calendar events do people add every day?

While all of these use cases make sense on some level, in reality I don't see any of these being reasons to wear glasses all day. Nothing about what you describe sounds exciting or "must have" to me. I still wouldn't be interested in a product like this even if it had an AR display, but I can very clearly see how a display would open up all kinds of more broadly appealing use cases. But no display? I just don't see the point.

 

[cjsuk]

I suspect that the majority of people outside a small fringe of the tech enthusiasts will not give a monkey's ass about this.

Until it is pointing at them. At which point they are not going to like it.

 

[ifxf]

That’s absurdly long to wait to copy a product that’s been on the shelves for years… and I doubt they’ll be radically better… should definitely have displays by then…

Like the AirTags, the glasses will beep loudly when recording.

 

[xDKP]

I’m 98% sure that Apple will give you no way to download videos off this.

The thing is… it WILL be much more massive issue after Apple release them.

Currently it’s largely slept on that glasses can record video much more secretly than a phone. It is a big deal, but it just doesn’t rise to the general media.

Once Apple is in the hand-wringing headlines, the issue will be EVERYWHERE all at once.

This pattern has repeated over and over again for the past 25y.

Apple knows this. It certainly knows that releasing a product that can surreptitiously film in a private place will be used inappropriately.

And that scandal will be run right up the flagpole from facebook gramma shares to evening news to governmental oversight committees.

Personally I think it’s a GOOD thing. Because screw the idea of being recorded by anybody with glasses on. It’s bad enough how people can do it now (even the more surreptitious ways than sneaking with a phone).

So I’m not convinced that Apple will EVER allow you to view/share the recordings you take with a pair of glasses.

Because almost immediately everybody wearing them in public (even in ‘fair’ spaces to film) would be the creepo who’s filming them.

Even a big bright red light can be covered.

Which is a bit of a shame. It would be useful and fun to get POV video of certain things in my life (sports, pets, dashcam/bodycam for random ‘nobody will believe that just happened’ events, etc.

I just don’t see how society will allow it.

And I certainly don’t think our society would be better served by feeling MORE watched in every day life. Look at how it has affected the youngest generations who’ve grown up conscious that their every move could be clipped and shared and make them look awful or amazing.

I also looked into this for sports etc. but the price is wild and to give money to Meta is just a big no

 

[Luftkopf]

I don't understand this product. Without an AR display, what's the point? Filming people without their consent? I have no clue why anyone would buy a product like this or how they'd find it useful.

Even with an AR screen I can barely see the point! Honestly I don't think these should even be legal.

 

[darthbane2k]

And yet another new product that Apple are struggling to get to market. When are we going to talk about the story behind the story. Something is seriously wrong.

 

[citysnaps]

Seems many here have stunted imaginations with respect to how these glasses could be used.

 

[Philip_S]

That's very true, but that's not really the point. Whether legal or not, it's still gross and weird and I'm not sure why anyone would want to covertly record their surroundings. It's creepy and only appeals to creeps. What's the legitimate use case for recording people in public all the time?

It would be useful in environments like trade shows if you could get a heads-up display of information from people's LinkedIn, company profile pages, etc. to know who you're talking to, what their company is, and so on as soon as you meet. I'm not saying that justifies the development costs of the product, or the social effects of using them elsewhere, but it's not completely useless tech.

It would be a useful addition to body cams too, because it follows where the wearer is facing (though I'd want to use a fisheye lens for maximum context)

 

[klasma]

While I can see the use cases you outlined, I'm not sure how many people really care about any of that stuff, especially without an AR screen. Are people really going to sit there and listen to the AI tell them about what they're seeing? I feel like the novelty will wear off VERY FAST.

I mean, the Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses sell reasonably well, 7 million units last year in the US, and the current version has been on the market since 2023 (the first one since 2021). Meta postponed the international release planned for this year due to unprecedented demand in the US, and they are planning to scale up production to 30 million units per year.

 

[Ct applefan]

Great new rumor! Send it over to Gurman so that he can "report" in 6 months that development is facing issues and thus the product will be delayed.

Wow Gurman lives in your head. Just ignore him