Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Meta's Smart Glasses Gain Live AI and Live Translation
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If you don’t have to use the “Hey Meta” to ask questions then why do you have to use it to ask Shazam what song is playing? 🤷♂️
Except for AI; Apple Intelligence kind of sucks and isn’t better.
Not even close to better features than Vision Pro. This thing is a data harvesting wearable for social media users.
I agree with you too a point. But when does so many cameras then become mass surveillance. Except in this instance it is a private company.
Theoretically photographing people in a public space is perfectly legal but such laws are designed around the idea that people are doing it obviously on a DSLR with a whacking great lens on the front. Doing it in a clandestine manner with a pair of glasses or even a phone is not in itself illegal but pretty dodgy.
To commercially publish a photograph of a person in any given situation requires a signed release form giving outright permission. Given that online platforms make money off of random uploads of people I'd actually argue in favour of the law being changed so that anyone uploading a pictiure of anyone, even your own children to a public forum such as social media requires their consent.
This would hopefully put a stop to people over-sharing what should be intimate, private moments with their new children with anyone other than close family members as doing so via closed channels such as iMessage and WhatsApp would be fine.
So when your car, home, health, employment etc insurance providers all buy your data from Meta, and are able to scour every little thing you do to find evidence to deny any claim you ever make going forward, you'll be ok with that?
These glasses that capture everything a person does are an absolute dream come true for insurance companies, not to mention law enforcement. It boggles my mind that people like you don't see that.
Bro come on.. what are we supposed to get out of these? Maps? OK I suppose if you find yourself in an unfamiliar neighborhood all the time then go for it. So much easier than looking at your phone 🤣
And very skeptical of the live translation claims. This technology only seems to work within a very narrow range of circumstances. Like a one on one interview with no background conversations or noises. Let’s get real, how many will find themselves in this situation? Almost anywhere you go in the world people speak some level of English and it will probably be easier to communicate like that than by fumbling around with a pair of sunglasses that’s translating your conversation along with those of others around you and the TV set playing in the corner.
And very skeptical of the live translation claims. This technology only seems to work within a very narrow range of circumstances. Like a one on one interview with no background conversations or noises. Let’s get real, how many will find themselves in this situation? Almost anywhere you go in the world people speak some level of English and it will probably be easier to communicate like that than by fumbling around with a pair of sunglasses that’s translating your conversation along with those of others around you and the TV set playing in the corner.
Apple was never going to develop what you want as Apple (unlike you apparently) sees that their doing so would betray all the good will they have developed over the years as the only large consumer computer/phone company that protect's it's clients' privacy.
Goggle already went down this road with Google Glass before they abandoned all their glassholes, it's utterly unsurprising that Zuckerberg, who has never given a rat's ass about anyone's privacy other than his own is now pushing this.
I am frustrated to distraction with Siri. Apple really does need to get their "AI" product up to scratch. But I think they're right to put privacy first and keep it first. I just hope they can do the two together and their privacy first approach doesn't forever hamstring the intelligence aspect.
You do realize that there are millions of people that are ugly AF, right? Saying that there are millions of people wearing similarly styled glasses is in no way a counter to his argument that these glasses are ugly. Similarly styled glasses as these are what the military hands out in Basic Training & they were universally called Birth Control Glasses as no attractive person would want to have anything to do with anyone wearing them.
I have both, and you are absolutely wrong. I hate to even use the "apples and oranges" cliche to describe what you posited, because the two devices are so dissimilar. And honestly, there is no reason to "switch between the two on a daily basis".
I cannot understand why so many in these threads or on Reddit (although it is much better there recently) want the AVP device to fail or are so negative about it. Most of the hostility seems to be aimed at the price.
I have been a Mac guy since the 80's; I spent $3500 on a PowerBook 2400c...in 1998 (it would be almost $6,800 in 2024 dollars). This past February, I was fortunate to have a bunch of older iPhones, MacBooks, and an iPad that I traded in that took off $2000 of the AVP price.
However, after having it since launch in February, I would gladly put the full amount on a credit card - this is the most amazing thing Apple has ever produced, and an exciting way to see their path forward.
And other than an internet connection, it bears zero resemblance to Meta Glasses.
I WFH, and while it took me a few months to figure out how to use it in my workflow, I now work 4-8 hrs/day using my AVP. My Meta glasses are a toy that I use for AI questions much less than I thought I would. On the couple of occasions that I wore them out of the house, I showed my friends what they did, and frankly, they were creeped out by the cameras no matter how much I showed them that the cameras light up and will not function if the light is covered. I don't wear them out anymore.
However, when I show my friends, family, and grandkids Guest Mode on my AVP, I love seeing the amazement on their faces after they take it off. There is no comparison, and the AVP is definitely not "serving the same market" as the Meta Glasses.
So let’s say you find yourself in the unlikely scenario where you — a native English speaker — are in a physical space with a foreign speaker and you can’t understand each other. But no worries! You have your Meta glasses to translate! So even if the background is fully quiet and the glasses properly pick out what the speaker is saying (which they probably won’t) then what do you do with this information? Since you don’t speak their language, good luck with formulating a coherent response.
That depends on a number of factors; for example a photo of a building with people standing around does not require signed releases from everyone in the picture.
This technology will require a rethinking of privacy laws as the become more ubiquitous making real time tracking and identifying individuals something that could become commonplace. I suspect you’ll see TOCs in apps like FB that basically say signing up allows them to gather information on you forever, even if you close your account.
Finally ... someone here old (or wise ... or both) enough remembers when Google failed to effectively counter privacy advocacy, market or continue to develop their wearable.
Apparently, all it took was 10 years for the majority of chuckleheads to forget why a superior product died a painful, public death.
I love these smart glasses. They're like a shortcut in life. It's like a little sign a person wears that says "Hey, let's never hangout". -D.M.
Last edited:
And you don't think Apple doesn't. Apple knows more and eventually they will get into advertising. Too much money left on the table. They will sell it to you differently but it will be the same.
I am not sure how they capture everything I do? It's not like camera is always on. What's the difference between phone and RB Metas? Definitely you can be a bigger creep with phone vs Metas. At least these have light indicator when you're taking photos/videos. I don't have any big glasshole plans with these, maybe capture some walks around the beach or playing tennis. We do have universal health coverage here.
Share the glasses? And why would I be a native English speaker? I’m not and less than 5% of the world‘s
population are, so it‘s rather unlikely.
Just what the world needs, proactive LLMs, by Meta, of all companies.
Yep. I wear mine out and about all the time and only on a couple of occasions have people even noticed they were the Meta Ray-Bans. I used them quite a bit recording plays on the sidelines when coaching football games and seeing things we needed to work on the next week in practice. They can definitely be useful and they really aren't terrible looking glasses although I'm more of a Costa guy. Looking forward to using them while skiing next week.
Okay, if these can transcribe in realtime to text then I think this will be great in terms of accessibility. If you are deaf or otherwise hard of hearing, having a way to participate in any conversation that you want is a game changer, it levels the playing field to be able to walk into a conversation, because you don't have to be focused on the lips prior. It can even just be english to english.