Testing 'Meta' Glasses

I was testing the new 'Meta - Ray-Ban' glasses, priced at $300, developed through a collaboration between Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire and the iconic sunglasses brand. These advanced glasses feature a built-in camera for capturing images and recording videos, along with a set of speakers and microphones that can be used for listening to music and making phone calls.

'Meta' claims that these new glasses help the wearer to "live in the moment" and share what they see with the world in real time. For instance, you can live stream a concert on Instagram and watch the performance live, unlike using a phone. This objective may seem modest, but it's part of a broader ambition in Silicon Valley to shift the focus of computing from the screens of smartphones and computers to our faces.

Tech companies, including 'Apple', 'Meta', and 'Magic Leap', are heavily promoting mixed-reality headsets that use cameras allowing their software to interact with objects in the real world. Zuckerberg recently posted a video on Instagram demonstrating how smart glasses could use artificial intelligence to scan a shirt and suggest a matching pair of pants. These companies argue that face-wearable computers could eventually change the way we work and live our lifestyles. 'Apple' is set to launch its first advanced glasses, 'Vision Pro' ($3,500), which stand out for their intelligence and sleek design, and perform impressive tasks next year.

Sleek and Lightweight Design

Advanced headsets have not gained widespread popularity over the past seven years, largely due to their bulky and aesthetically unappealing designs. The new 'Meta - Ray-Ban' glasses feature a modestly-sized design that reflects a potential look for smart glasses if they ever become successful.

Stylish, lightweight, and comfortable, these are the qualities of 'Meta's new glasses that allow them to blend seamlessly into our daily lives. Admittedly, no one, not even the editor who knew I was working on this article, could differentiate the glasses from regular ones or realize I was taking pictures.

After wearing 'Meta - Ray-Ban' glasses for an entire month, I felt relieved to take them off. Although I was impressed with their comfort and modern design, I was disturbed by the blatant intrusion on our privacy and worried about the impact these glasses might have on our ability to concentrate. Wearing them, I often felt distracted, even when I wasn't using any of their features. Yet, the fundamental problem was that the glasses couldn't perform many tasks that we do today with our phones.

'Meta' stated in a comment that privacy was a top priority when designing the glasses, adding, "We understand very well that privacy must come first, and it must be integrated into everything we do if we want to make wearing smart glasses a natural part of our daily lives."

Evaluating the Glasses' Performance

I wore the glasses and took hundreds of photos and videos during various daily activities (work, cooking, nature walks, rock climbing, driving, and riding an electric bike) to evaluate how smart glasses could affect our progress. Here's how it went:

Constant Distraction. In my first test, I wore the glasses to the rock climbing gym I frequent and recorded my maneuvers in real-time, sharing the videos with climbing mates.

Watching the recordings, I was surprised to find that my climbing performance was worse than on typical days. When recording a climbing attempt, my foot slipped, and I fell, feeling disappointed, especially since I had previously successfully completed the same route. Perhaps the pressure of recording and broadcasting a smooth climbing run impacted my performance, especially since I succeeded in completing the route after taking off the glasses.

This feeling of distraction permeated other areas of my daily life; I had difficulty concentrating while driving and biking, not just because I was constantly looking for opportunities to shoot video, but also because of a strong reflection from another car's headlights penetrating my glasses lens. 'Meta' safety instructions recommend wearers to stay focused while driving, but fail to mention glare from headlights.

In contrast, working on the computer, I felt the glasses were unnecessary because there was nothing worth shooting at my desk, yet part of my brain remained preoccupied with the possibility of photography at all times.

Photography professor Ben Long in San Francisco questions 'Meta's ultimate goal with the glasses, saying, "If you are wearing the camera, it means you've lost the moment because you will always be wondering whether there is something to present and shoot."

Privacy Erosion. To notify people they are being filmed, 'Meta - Ray-Ban' glasses incorporate an LED light into the right frame to indicate the device is recording. When taking a photo, this light flashes briefly, and during video recording, it stays on continuously.

I captured and recorded about 200 photos and videos in public places like trains, walkways, and parks, but nobody paid attention to the light or asked me about it. And why would they? Commenting on someone's glasses is somewhat rude, not to mention staring at them.

The issue of widespread surveillance isn't new, as the proliferation of smartphones, doorbell cameras, and car dash cams means you are likely being filmed anywhere. However, privacy expert Chris Gilliard, who studies the impacts of surveillance technologies, believes that hidden cameras in smart glasses will activate bad actors (e.g., those taking surreptitious photos of others at the gym) to cause more harm.

Gilliard explains, "What these devices do isn't make the unavailable available, but rather make what was not easy easier."

Meanwhile, 'Meta' spokesperson Albert Aydin said the company took privacy issues seriously and designed protective measures, like tamper detection technology to prevent users from covering the LED light with tape.

Valuable Life Moments. True, 'Meta - Ray-Ban' glasses didn't make me feel more present or secure, but they performed well in capturing a specific type of picture (moments from my life I wouldn't usually photograph because my hands were busy).

While this kind of moments can indeed be valuable, it's not a sufficient reason to convince people to buy and wear smart glasses considering the privacy and focus they lose.

Nevertheless, one can imagine certain applications that could eventually turn these glasses into a popular and familiar product, like a 3D reading screen in the corner of your eyes during a presentation. Finally, we must admit that the future where this product becomes a reality, whether through 'Meta' or 'Apple', which hopes to make a smart glass after 'Vision Pro', does not seem far off.