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Facebook Debuts $299 'Ray-Ban Stories' Smart Glasses

The backlash to these glasses and any other company that tries to introduce 'video glasses' to the masses is that varying types of establishments will put up signs in their windows saying 'No video recording allowed'. It's human nature to abuse the intended use of things and these video glasses will be no exception. Social media content creators will be the worst, using them to record people in embarassing situations, they said the wrong thing or done the wrong thing which they would not have done if they knew a video camera was focusing on them. Females will be the worst affected, invasion of privacy whilst getting dressed, changing in the locker rooms, 'down blouse' situations. Then there will be those who will try to use them in places and areas of security, banks, government buildings, law enforcement buildings.

Video glasses are a very bad idea purely for the fact that their intended purpose will be missused.
 
Said it all along even back in the google glasshole days.... no-one likes to wear glasses so please try again and give me a solution to whatever this problem might be that isn't glasses....
 
From Facebook? NEVER. They will make money from the invasion of privacy which they are very good at. Already ridiculous to pay for the tool that they can monetize from it. This is a hilarious joke and proves that the famous sentence "If you're not paying for the product, you are the product" is an old-time story. Now "You are the product and YOU will pay for it."
 
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Awesome! So on sunny days, I won't have to take my phone out of my pocket and will be able to take pictures and listen to music on my... sunglasses?

What happens when I go inside or it gets dark? This has got to be one of the dumbest products I've ever seen
 
Thehangmn said:
Awesome! So on sunny days, I won't have to take my phone out of my pocket and will be able to take pictures and listen to music on my... sunglasses?

What happens when I go inside or it gets dark? This has got to be one of the dumbest products I've ever seen
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You must have not read the whole article.
From the article:
"The Ray-Ban Stories come in several iconic Ray-Ban styles like Wayfarer, and there are five color options. Lenses include clear, sun, transition, and prescription."
 
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laptech said:
Didn't one of the social media companies try this a few years ago. very similar frame style, had a camera in each corner and the purpose was to be able to upload video's directly to your social media page but it never took off because people did not like the look of the glasses, plus when wearing them, due to the design and colour, it gave it away immediatly as to the social media company the wearer was using.
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You may be think of Google Glass
 
Vjosullivan said:
If they had an Apple logo on them, everybody on here would be singing their praises to the heavens.
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except apple wouldn't be stupid enough to develop a product intended for use in the Sun or bright light only. what do you do at night or when its dark and rainy? it is sunny on average 205 days a year in the US, that's only 56% of days that begin to make sense to use these.
The design is the problem. Why integrate sunglasses, camera, and headphones into one product? in this case the camera is not as good as the ones I have on my iPhone 12 pro. and the audio is not going to be as good as just about any headphone/earbud and won't offer ANC. Then we come to the crux of the problem - that Sunglasses are not something people wear all the time, they wear them when its sunny. So you have a product that has very limited usability.
Onto that add the fact that sunglasses get put through the ringer. they get left in hot cars, dropped in swimming pools, fall out of their case in purses/backpacks, and they are flimsy when compared to your phone. So how long will it take for these to break? what's the warranty? when they break, what will it cost you to get a replacement pair?

All of these are just the tip of the iceberg of reasons why apple would never consider this a viable product.
 
Thehangmn said:
except apple wouldn't be stupid enough to develop a product intended for use in the Sun or bright light only. what do you do at night or when its dark and rainy? it is sunny on average 205 days a year in the US, that's only 56% of days that begin to make sense to use these.
The design is the problem. Why integrate sunglasses, camera, and headphones into one product? in this case the camera is not as good as the ones I have on my iPhone 12 pro. and the audio is not going to be as good as just about any headphone/earbud and won't offer ANC. Then we come to the crux of the problem - that Sunglasses are not something people wear all the time, they wear them when its sunny. So you have a product that has very limited usability.
Onto that add the fact that sunglasses get put through the ringer. they get left in hot cars, dropped in swimming pools, fall out of their case in purses/backpacks, and they are flimsy when compared to your phone. So how long will it take for these to break? what's the warranty? when they break, what will it cost you to get a replacement pair?

All of these are just the tip of the iceberg of reasons why apple would never consider this a viable product.
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AGAIN, they are not just sunglasses. They come in "clear". please re-read the article!
 
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I love the idea, since I've always wanted an eye replacement with image capturing capability (Cyberpunk 2020 is to blame for that), and this would hurt both myself and my wallet less. But yeah, something like this is never gonna fly in the real world unless... several traits of human nature are removed.
 
MacRumors said:


Facebook today launched its first smart glasses, which were created in collaboration with Ray-Ban. The Ray-Ban Stories are priced starting at $299 and come in 20 style combinations.

ray-ban-stories.jpg

Smart glasses might suggest augmented reality capabilities, but Facebook's Ray-Ban Stories are similar to other connected sunglasses on the market and are limited to making phone calls, snapping photos, and listening to music.

The Ray-Ban Stories are equipped with a set of 5-megapixel cameras built into each side of the frame, which can record photos and 30-second videos using a button or hands-free with the Facebook Assistant.

There's a hard-wired LED light that comes on whenever you're taking a photo or a video so other people aren't caught unaware.

ray-ban-stories-2.jpg

For listening to music, the Ray-Ban Stories have open-ear speakers, and there's a three microphone array for calls. The Ray-Ban Stories have a built-in battery that lasts for up to six hours and a portable charging case, which Facebook claims will provide up to three consecutive days of glasses use, but some reviewers have said that the battery drains quickly if the glasses aren't turned off while not in use.

Facebook's smart glasses work with the Facebook View app, which is designed to allow users to share point of view stories, photos, and more on social media. According to Facebook, the app is designed to make it easy to share content on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Twitter, TikTok, and Snapchat.


The Ray-Ban Stories come in several iconic Ray-Ban styles like Wayfarer, and there are five color options. Lenses include clear, sun, transition, and prescription. There is no Facebook branding on the glasses as the design and distribution has been handled by Ray-Ban parent company Luxottica with Facebook providing internals.

Those interested in purchasing a set of Facebook's Ray-Ban Stories can do so from the Ray-Ban website starting today. The Ray-Ban Stories are also available in some retail stores in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the UK.

Article Link: Facebook Debuts $299 'Ray-Ban Stories' Smart Glasses
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This will reach a new level of infringement on our privacy sooner or later. From now on not only active Facebook users will be affected, soon also other people will involuntary be in focus of the Facebook machinery.
 
“There's a hard-wired LED light that comes on whenever you're taking a photo or a video so other people aren't caught unaware.”

HAHAHAHHAHAHA!!

Wait, are you serious?
That LED would be that kind of LED impossible to cover then...

facebook + camera at sight heigh= Privacy chaos

teenagers are the most vulnerables but wait to see how social media burns with compromised videos. Smartphone arent anything compared with this.
But dont worry, goverments wont take more than a decade to regulate this. 🙄
 
DotCom2 said:
AGAIN, they are not just sunglasses. They come in "clear". please re-read the article
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DotCom2 said:
You must have not read the whole article.
From the article:
"The Ray-Ban Stories come in several iconic Ray-Ban styles like Wayfarer, and there are five color options. Lenses include clear, sun, transition, and prescription."
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Fair point, that just removes the most ridiculous flaws. They are still glasses with lower quality cameras, that have headphones built into them. battery life is 3 hours with audio streaming, so I guess if you get the prescription ones, you still need a backup pair of glasses so you can charge your smart glasses? and otherwise you get the joy of wearing glasses without the optical necessity? Are people really going to wear non prescription clear lensed glasses all day, just so they can have the satisfaction of answering a phone call without pulling their phone out of their pocket? why not just wear your headphones?
is the allure of 2x 5Mp cameras on your head so great that everyone will stop using their 12Mp cameras? what if you want to film yourself? do you take the glasses off and point them back at yourself? again... this is a niche application of a camera system. Cool for some as a supplement to their phone, but just plain dumb for most.
I'll eat my hat if this takes off
 
Cool!

Given that Facebook likes to prevent its users from seeing anything it believes is false, misleading, or might upset the tender sensibilities of snowflakes, I wonder if they also work like this:

“Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been specially designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. At the first hint of trouble, they turn totally black and thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you.” -- Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe
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rofl.gif
 
At these they aren’t hideous looking like what Snapchat put out with theirs. From a distance, they look like regular Ray-Bans. The average person won’t even notice the tiny camera unless they really look.
 
I am surprised by the level of ignorance of the comments here. Facebook knows it is under privacy scrutiny. They dont need to watch your footage, they need good content so people will spend time on site. They get the data needed for their ads from this activity. Not from your glasses.

on another note, this thing has a miniscule battery. It is technically impossible to run this without your knowledge. I suppose it will take 30-60 minutes of continous video footage on a single charge. No way it could run on background without anyone noticing.

Facebook also shows you all that the audio snippets that the voice control assistant has recorded.

this device is clearly geared towards creators of content. There are many great usecases for recording video without using your hands or difficult set ups. recording in public is ubiquitous and quite normal even with phones. Nothing is going to change with a pair of sunglasses.

i get it, Facebook is a creepy service with poor privacy track record. But it would be great to have some respect for facts and reality. It is quite a critical skill in todays world
 
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villagehiker said:
EMI near brain causes…
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Okay @dysamoria, you disagreed. But what did you disagree with? Finish the sentence when you see an elipsis (…). I didn't say or imply EMI from the glasses causes anything. Just looking for sentence completion. :) Something as low power as the glasses does nothing evil to the brain, AFAIK. But powerful EMI can do weird things to humans. I worked in high power two-way radio for awhile. We always warned people to stay in their vehicles when keying the transmitter. A 25-watt transmission antenna next to a human head can potentially cause health problems. A report from National Institute of Health website. Stay cool. 😎
 
villagehiker said:
Okay @dysamoria, you disagreed. But what did you disagree with? Finish the sentence when you see an elipsis (…). I didn't say or imply EMI from the glasses causes anything. Just looking for sentence completion. :) Something as low power as the glasses does nothing evil to the brain, AFAIK. But powerful EMI can do weird things to humans. I worked in high power two-way radio for awhile. We always warned people to stay in their vehicles when keying the transmitter. A 25-watt transmission antenna next to a human head can potentially cause health problems. A report from National Institute of Health website. Stay cool. 😎
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This pile of text here is not what I disagreed with. I disagreed with your implication in your original comment. Now you’re moving the goalposts. Stop it.
 
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