Apple Testing Four Smart Glasses Styles Made of High-End Materials

[Mr_Ed]

If someone I'm taking with is wearing them, I'll ask them to take them off, Apple or otherwise.

Which is fair enough to ask. 👍🏼

Wait until we get hit with “oh, these have prescription lenses, I need them to see.”

The whole thing seems creepier the smaller the group. There is the basic “no privacy outdoors or in a crowd” argument, but that doesn’t mean I should be OK with every personal interaction being subject to recording or broadcast.

 

[Barry Forshaw]

I’m a cyclist and runner and can see some utility in glasses if they have some sort of HUD to show metrics (speed, distance, power, etc). Maybe maps/directions.

Some sort of speakers to listen to music (I currently don’t listen to anything while cycling due to safety).

Video would be useful for my commutes. Not to post anywhere but in case of an accident.

 

[Lone Deranger]

The glasses will tightly integrate with the iPhone and Siri, and they will use computer vision to interpret the user's surroundings and feed contextual awareness into Apple Intelligence. Meanwhile, the the camera system currently being considered is described as "vertically oriented oval lenses with surrounding lights," which contrasts with the circular design seen in Meta's Ray-Bans.

"Smart" glasses eh?

You know what would be smart? And actually life changing for those wearing prescription glasses? Make the lenses variable focal length. Build in eye-tracking so the glasses know where I'm looking at. Then use depth estimation/range tracking to interactively adapt lens strength/prescription accordingly. No more swapping between reading glasses and general use glasses.
I'd queue up for that on launch day. But if this is going to be some kind of Vision Pro (Lite), doing more or less the same thing, come launch day I'll be sleeping in.

 

[svish]

Waiting to see these glasses. Don't know how Apple is going to price it but will not be surprised if it starts at $499.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

I’m a cyclist and runner and can see some utility in glasses if they have some sort of HUD to show metrics (speed, distance, power, etc). Maybe maps/directions.

Some sort of speakers to listen to music (I currently don’t listen to anything while cycling due to safety).

Video would be useful for my commutes. Not to post anywhere but in case of an accident.

Yes, that would be cool. I have a Suunto Run watch. I can upload a gpx file to that containing route information. The watch uses gps and compass to show the route and my location and the route rotates as I walk or run. It would be nice to have that functionality in sight.

I just wonder where the battery life is going to come from. The last Apple Watch I had was series 5. I wanted to use that to record a 55km bike ride and a 10k walk, all in one afternoon. Watch ran out of battery. I'll assume that newer Apple Watches have better battery but we're talking about glasses here with a small frame.

Press x to doubt.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Waiting to see these glasses. Don't know how Apple is going to price it but will not be surprised if it starts at $499.

That’s not much more than the last frames I bought.

I suspect you’re short by 2x-4x.

 

[Barry Forshaw]

Yes, that would be cool. I have a Suunto Run watch. I can upload a gpx file to that containing route information. The watch uses gps and compass to show the route and my location and the route rotates as I walk or run. It would be nice to have that functionality in sight.

I just wonder where the battery life is going to come from. The last Apple Watch I had was series 5. I wanted to use that to record a 55km bike ride and a 10k walk, all in one afternoon. Watch ran out of battery. I'll assume that newer Apple Watches have better battery but we're talking about glasses here with a small frame.

Press x to doubt.

I upgraded to an Apple Watch Ultra and haven’t had an issue with battery life yet. It covers a half marathon no problem, and I’ve done 60km on the bike hooked up to the Cadence app on my iPhone for heart rate and had a lot of battery life left.

But yeah, ideally I’d want to leave the camera recording in the glasses for all rides just in case, so battery life would potentially be an issue.

Of course, they would also need to be in a design suitable for cycling/running.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

If someone I'm taking with is wearing them, I'll ask them to take them off, Apple or otherwise.

If the light isn't on, they aren't recording. They are just regular glasses at that point so what's the issue?

 

[WarmWinterHat]

If the light isn't on, they aren't recording. They are just regular glasses at that point so what's the issue?

A sharpie, a dot of black paint, a piece of electrical tape. It's easy to block those lights.

 

[Mr_Ed]

If the light isn't on, they aren't recording. They are just regular glasses at that point so what's the issue?

Define “recording.” These are rumors and we don’t yet know what lights will be present or their meaning. Traditionally such indicators are tied to deliberate video recording. That says nothing of whether or not a device that rumors claim will be constantly providing context to AI are streaming or recording for other purposes.

 

[bluecoast]

Struggling to see what the use cases for this product is.

Are there really enough people who will pay a premium to get notifications, complications, map directions and visual look up on their eye glasses lens?

 

[ayephoner]

A sharpie, a dot of black paint, a piece of electrical tape. It's easy to block those lights.

Supposedly if the light is blocked they won't take photos or videos. There are still ways to block it, but it's not incredibly easy.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Supposedly if the light is blocked they won't take photos or videos. There are still ways to block it, but it's not incredibly easy.

This is correct. Paranoia leads to people not even doing research apparently.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

A sharpie, a dot of black paint, a piece of electrical tape. It's easy to block those lights.

You only had to take a few seconds to look it up and see that wouldn't work. The camera function would be disabled with all those methods.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Are there really enough people who will pay a premium to get notifications, complications, map directions and visual look up on their eye glasses lens?

Yes, there are. Meta has sold pretty well, and Apple would sell even better.

 

[ayephoner]

Struggling to see what the use cases for this product is.

Are there really enough people who will pay a premium to get notifications, complications, map directions and visual look up on their eye glasses lens?

From what I can tell, they are mostly used for taking photos/videos. They are great for content creators (which I am not). They have lots of other practical uses too, but these will grow a lot over the next few years.

 

[bluecoast]

From what I can tell, they are mostly used for taking photos/videos. They are great for content creators (which I am not). They have lots of other practical uses too, but these will grow a lot over the next few years.

Urgh, that's horrible then. We all lose even more of our privacy just so that content creators can get more subscribers.

 

[bluecoast]

Yes, there are. Meta has sold pretty well, and Apple would sell even better.

Ok fair enough.

I'm utterly mystified - and slightly appalled - by this product category.

 

[ayephoner]

Urgh, that's horrible then. We all lose even more of our privacy just so that content creators can get more subscribers.

Meh. The privacy standards of yesteryear are not the privacy standards of today. That will only continue to change. There are cameras everywhere and more are added everyday.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Define “recording.”

the action or process of recording sound or a performance for subsequent reproduction or broadcast.

 

[turbineseaplane]

What they need to be figuring out is how they’re gonna get folks to not find these super creepy and invasive.

I did a Facebook transaction with someone wearing the Meta Ray-Ban’s and it was enormously distracting and a huge turn off and he looked like a complete frickin tool.

All he was missing was a cybertruck to complete the look.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

What they need to be figuring out is how they’re gonna get folks to not find these super creepy and invasive.

I did a Facebook transaction with someone wearing the Meta Ray-Ban’s and it was enormously distracting and a huge turn off and he looked like a complete frickin tool.

All he was missing was a cybertruck to complete the look.

I feel like using them for Facebook marketplace is a good use of them actually. Recording the interaction protects him from potential scammers. I think both sides should record it either with a phone or glasses, with glasses making it even easier.

 

[turbineseaplane]

To some extent this type of product feels like something made for folks in their mid 30s and older that grew up in a different era and thought this sort of thing was cool. (Sci-fi content influence, etc)

It’s an amazing contrast to younger kids who, yes, use their phones, but are turning more and more to Analogue and off-line and retro things as a bit of a backlash to how they grew up.

 

[The Game 161]

Struggling to see what the use cases for this product is.

Are there really enough people who will pay a premium to get notifications, complications, map directions and visual look up on their eye glasses lens?

of course, certainly if it's reasonable pricing

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

It’s an amazing contrast to younger kids who, yes, use their phones, but are turning more and more to Analogue and off-line and retro things as a bit of a backlash to how they grew up.

Overblown hyperbole. Most of this was caused by a bunch of places banning phones and other devices from classrooms. So the kids had to turn to other ways to amuse themselves.