Facebook, Ray-Ban launch smart glasses | Hacker News Reader

Facebook, Ray-Ban launch smart glasses

apnews.com

65 pointsgeox78 comments

I want to play with these. I want to buy them. I'm not going to because Facebook made them.

The company doesn't align with anything I do. I don't use their products. I think they're harmful to democracy. I don't want to make a Facebook account to use these. I don't want them storing my photos and videos on their servers. I don't want them having access to my life.

It's strange how much feeling these tech giants bring out in us.

The positive is that the hardware is being developed, and the knowledge spreads.

For instance, the purism and pine phones are using chips that are a byproduct of tech developed for android phones (which constantly send data to google)

Couldn't agree more. I feel the same way about the Oculus headsets.

Take my patent and go make your own pair please

https://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=...

First hands-on: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2...

FB announcement: https://tech.fb.com/ray-ban-and-facebook-introduce-ray-ban-s...

Ray-Ban link: http://www.ray-ban.com/discover-ray-ban-stories

Thanks for that! I was really happy to see that Snapchat didn't give up after the first Spectacles. I think tech has a huge amount of room to grow there, and I'm pretty sure the next iteration of that tech will be AR. Both FB and Snapchat are investing heavily in AR.

First link, de-googled - https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/9/22662809/facebook-ray-ban-...

Thanks for the links, that is helpful.

I wonder why every tech company uses longboarders in their ads? Is it a trope and done intentionally as a joke? Or more banal -- they are lazy and just copying each other?

Quite an audacious move by Facebook. Tech specs look good, but the biggest challenge is going to be privacy.

I recall years ago when the first Google Glass came out, certain venues like museums put up rules banning their usage. And that was for a halo product whereas this is clearly targeted more at mainstream users.

With rumors of Apple also offering up something similar soon, we'll see how this sort of gadgetry is "normalized" by society.

(Google Glass apparently still exists! Albeit only for enterprise: https://www.google.com/glass/tech-specs/ )

I will have my chuckle when we finally see Apple's iGlasses.

But as far as I know from chitchat going around Shenzhen, they don't have a camera or anything, and they are just making simple video goggles.

My speculation is that they're going to heavily rely on U1, and possibly depth-only cameras.

Apple has all of the components put into place for you to point at a lamp, flick your finger, and turn it on.

My intuition is right with you. They will actively avoid anything that the end user thinks is a camera while packing it full of sensors that allow interactions with (mapping/object recognition of/etc) the world around them.

A decade too late?! They've dropped the "i" naming scheme for new products. Apple Watch, Apple Tag.

Maybe Apple Lens?

what's the big deal? You still have iOS. Anyway nobody really cares if it's MacOS, OSX, Apple Phone or iPhone...The time when the Apple's product name mattered much is long gone.

Who said anything about a big deal? It was just mirthful musing about the future name of Apple's eyeware product.

Apple Sight?

iSight has a nice ring to it

Eye Phone

We'll see. Their phone was derided when it came out because it didn't even have a keyboard. The famous Ballmer quote about the iPhone launch which many journalists agreed with at the time: "[the iPhone] is the most expensive phone in the world and it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard"

It turned phones were better without keyboards, if you rethought the UI. Maybe glasses without cameras are too.

And 4 years later, what did you see happen when snapchat spectacles came out?

> Tech specs look good

Oh, you.

Where are all the open source tech specs projects?

As much as I personally think the efforts of mega tech companies to intrude into every aspect of every user's life and the lives of those around them are repugnant and dystopian, I do think these will eventually make it mainstream. Convenience and novelty always trump security and privacy among the majority, unfortunately.

I think AR/VR is an avenue that could be really beneficial to humanity. Humans have a need and drive for unique experiences but that comes with a huge environmental cost. If AR/VR gets good enough this could replace many things for many people.

Even small quality of life things having a window to the outside in a windowless room could help a lot of people.

That said, if the only ones making these devices are the big tech companies they will exist to convince you to purchase and consume with little other benefit.

I can't wait for all the "Smart glasses not allowed in this venue" signs

Surprised there’s no mention of what kind of privacy-protecting indicator these will sport, to inform those around you that they are being recorded.

The article on The Verge shows off a white LED next to the camera when recording. It's subtle, and I wonder how visible it'll be in bright sunlight

Apparently, taping over the recording indicator is against the ToS

https://twitter.com/katienotopoulos/status/14359972236036464...

Oh, well then certainly there's nothing to worry about.

Indeed:

>You may not tamper with the Glasses, or otherwise obscure or modify any of the features on the Glasses that signal to others that the Glasses are recording (including the external-facing LED light).

https://www.facebook.com/help/ray-ban-stories/12479636622886...

“Zoom” calls involving parties living in locations where one must be notified and agree to be recorded…

In the interview Mark says you can turn them off physically, and there's also a light that turns on when you're taking a video (he mentions that this is already more that what smart phones do)

You'd be surprised to learn that when you're in public you're constantly being recorded.

Surveillance Camera Man was an interesting YT channel that explored the distinction between a citizen recording vs. commercial/government enterprises. https://www.bitchute.com/channel/rRjFUkbdhhQd/

> You'd be surprised to learn that when you're in public you're constantly being recorded.

Okay! We all GET that! Doesn't mean we can't hate the idea of people recording us onto FB.

I like the idea of a hands-free camera a little less cumbersome than a GoPro.

But the use cases are pretty niche.

I guess for DIY videos? Like product repairs where it's convenient to have both hands free...

Yeah, I follow a person on IG that does bread baking stories and the rig she uses is quite a clunky setup as she doesn't even want to touch the phone while baking due to her hands being covered in dough.

I'm guessing the videos Mark Zuckerberg posted on his FB page yesterday were taken by these glasses. If so, they take pretty nice quality video.

Interesting! Indeed that looks pretty nice: https://www.facebook.com/zuck/videos/598695067967180/?__cft_...

I would buy these if there was no Facebook dependency. Apparently a Facebook account is required, and the phone app is Facebook branded (and probably fb developed).

The Snap glasses looked very gimmicky, these look like Ray-Bans with two tiny cameras.

So there's nothing overlaid on your field of vision with these, right? It's just a camera built into glasses frames?

That's correct. They're just glasses with a camera, a small LED, microphone, and speaker. It also listens for "hey facebook," can take calls, and can route music.

It's getting closer. The display component is obviously the hardest part hardware-wise, but the battery, mic, camera, speaker, and compute components are all there now, and in a form factor that I actually could see myself wearing all day if the benefits were sufficiently compelling.

Also gives some insight into what future early consumer-targeted AR devices might look like. Up until now I've been picturing something like a slimmer version of Hololens; highly capable but a bit bulky, with a focus on slimming things down in future revisions. Now that I think about it though, a more successful consumer-oriented approach might be from the opposite direction; comfort and aesthetics at the expense of capability in the short term, with a focus on improving capability in future revisions.

Something like these glasses, with a simple low-res monochromatic display that only turns on when needed. Touch to wake and display contextual information relevant to whatever you're currently looking at. All heavy processing done on your phone, with an extreme focus on maintaining all-day battery life on the glasses themselves. I think something like that could succeed, given sufficiently compelling software.

There’s a touch pad as well on the side(s?) that you can use to adjust volume, etc.

Great. From one company that shits on privacy and another that shits on an entire industry[0]. what could go wrong?

[0] Luxottica owns Ray-Ban.

> Luxottica owns Ray-Ban

That's putting it all mildly!

https://www.luxottica.com/en/eyewear-brands

https://www.luxottica.com/en/retail-brands ... including EyeMed vision insurance.

Overall the massive consolidation limits your choices for eye insurance and/or vision care providers.

Wonder if EyeBuyDirect and CoastalContacts are not using Luxottica frames.

I've been making a conscious effort to take more videos of my kids doing normal everyday stuff. We have plenty of pictures, but I want to remember the silly things they said, the way they said "boo boo" after falling down, how they acted when you gave them a food they don't like. From my perspective, these seem great.

Assuming this is in your house primarily why not install indoor cameras instead?

I really like having the videos from my own perspective, I sort of get that from my phone but glasses would be even better for that. I don't know if I'll get these facebook glasses, but having glasses to record whenever I felt like it sounds great for memory preservation.

The problem is in public, would you be ok with other people recording video and audio constantly and uploading to facebook?

Would you be ok with all your life being out in the public? (either sold by facebook, hacked account or mandated by someone)

How about used for law enforcement... auto fines when you go over the speed limit, police sent to your house when weed detected, etc

If you’re in public in many places there’s a good chance you are already being recorded. This seems like a natural progression of that. Not that I like the direction this is taking us, but it seems inevitable

The UK and china have this issue with CCTVs everywhere.

Only places I've seen cameras are in stores. Otherwise its easy to see if someone pulls up their phone.

How is any of what you said not really going on now? People routinely take pictures with other people in the background and upload it to facebook without permission, and if facebook's facial recognition recognizes them it asks if you want to tag them and gives their name, or gives you the option to manually tag them which then informs facebook as to who the person really is. If they aren't on facebook/no account, it builds a shadow profile for that person and connects them with other people who have uploaded pictures of them in the past. If that person is in your contacts and you've uploaded your contacts, facebook now also knows who they are and their number, that they can cross reference, and they didn't sign up for facebook. That data is all sold by facebook. And the police have shown up at peoples houses due to what others have posted on facebook. When do we get to the dystopia part you're alluding to? We've been here for awhile. You're just acclimated now and don't see it.

You notice people recording by them holding their phone towards you. You can go to them and ask them to stop or get out of the way.

A pair of eyeglasses that you might not even notice is a different thing.

As for uploads on facebook, it was never that pervasive and right now not many people even upload to facebook anymore... Its all reshared memes and ads

I have 2 cameras in my car recording front/rear views all the time in 4k resolution while driving on public roads. I can upload them anywhere without anyone's permission because they were taken in public spaces. I pass x bank machines every day on public sidewalks, all recording. I pass x building a day on public streets and sidewalks, all with cameras recording 24/7. When I go in a store, there are cameras everywhere, recording. There are millions of cameras recording people in public every day, and they're not using cell phones being "obvious" and don't care about whether you like it or not, and you have 0 say except to not go out in public. How many times a day are you recorded without your "knowledge or consent?" Why are glasses the straw that breaks the camels back? You're swimming in it already.

https://reolink.com/how-many-times-you-caught-on-camera-per-...

How about cameras so good they can zoom in and read your texts?

> "He was actually texting about the poor quality of the game of rugby. But it did occur to me that there was an issue there - had he been texting something that was of some consequence to us, there may have been privacy issues."

> He confirmed later that the level of monitoring used during the World Cup would continue for all big test matches.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6848897/Powerful-surveillan...

Cameras in car, sure, those record your trip, illegal in some countries, illegal to upload as well there, could still save you so people still use them

Bank machines, record in front of them.

Stores, sure, you know they are there.

None if these are aggregated by a central party, stored forever and mined.

Eyeglasses, imagine you go for a beer with your friend and he's wearing them, potentially recording everything without you knowing... is it different?, do you still talk to him?. Imagine same guy going into the office, recording there, going to meetings, is he going to be allowed to?, imagine these being uploaded to facebook to be stored forever and be pulled at any point in the future.

This whole thing made me realize the value of it all for facebook to do the aggregation... they would profit immensely in the future (imagine data brokers used in westworld to build their ais, imagine the level of propaganda targetting... blackmail, etc).

If they do manage to do this without pushback its going to be interesting.

> None if these are aggregated by a central party, stored forever and mined.

I imagine you're just against Amazon's Ring doorbells as well then? Or are they not storing the data, analyzing it, and monetizing it?

> Several weeks ago it was reported that over 400 law enforcement agencies had partnered with Amazon’s Ring Camera. Ring distributes a free app called the Neighbors App that Ring owners use to store video images in the cloud. Amazon has now bonded its Neighbor’s app with police agencies to effectively turn private homeowners into snitches for the police.

https://www.technocracy.news/amazon-co-opting-homeowners-rin...

It seems Amazon is monetizing it just fine, and what do "partners" do with the data once they've obtained it? Do they not store it, analyze it and do stuff with their "discoveries" as well?

Are you intentionally ignoring what i said?

ring cameras are the same as cctv in my previous comment.

What do you say about people wearing them in social/professional situations, recording and uploading to facebook all your interactions. What do you do if you are faced with that?

If you whatabout again please consider discussion over.

Facebook are just an advertising company. Just another datapoint to target adverts at you.

Very self-aware move, piggy backing on a well recognized brand like Ray-Ban and laying low. Props to them.

The problem with all wearables is that clothing generally lasts longer than the tech. I’ve had the same pair of sunglasses for almost a decade. I have jackets and other articles of clothing that are quite a bit older than that. Throw a battery in any of those things and the lifespan of it immediately drops to a fraction of what it would be without.

I guess you could argue this is by design—clothing manufacturers want you to get a new set of their items every few years like you might with an Apple Watch. Still, the value add needs to be high enough to justify a much shorter lifespan. Apple pulled that off, but I doubt others can.

I already feel pretty creeped out when I go up to a door that has a RING doorbell. Behind-the-scenes algorithms are furiously recording my face, and trying to figure out exactly who I am all night long, it's CREEPY.

I'm surprised Ray-Ban were willing to attach their brand to this.

I've been expecting a product like this for some time. I don't trust Facebook enough to buy their example, but if a more open equivalent that isn't tied in to someone's service and is a bit less "smart" came around I would consider it.

We'll need to reconcile the need for a disguising mask for privacy with anti-mask laws here in the US

No Face Halloween Mirror Mask / Anonymous Disguise

https://www.thegreenhead.com/2014/10/no-face-halloween-mirro...

Anti-Mask Laws

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1169/anti-mask-...

Those "social" companies won't stop until they monetize, exploit, and destroy every meaningful socializing we have.

We can barely enjoy few seconds of someone's attention before they share or consume a "story" and fiddle with their phones, and now their glasses...

The end game of this "progress" is a neural link injected straight into our brains constantly streaming content and ads so that we mindlessly consume and share stories with each other all day long in a zombie like state.

Please stop this madness.

How will this fair against two party consent laws for audio?

I’d be surprised if most places don’t immediately ban this and other “always on” discrete audio/video recording devices

Back when Google released Glass I remember bars banning them to keep the perverts out. I’m sure the same thing will happen with these.

Does anyone have information on whether the platform will be open for development?

I wonder if these will be as popular as the Facebook Fone.

So, the same as SnapChat's creepglasses?

There's a reason Google Glass failed.

And also Focals by North

Why even bother? Who’s going to buy these?

Gopro lite. Why carry a DSLR when the camera on your smartphone is in your pocket.

30s video limit makes it fairy non competitive with a go pro.

Or (as a wildlife photographer) why bother changing from a supertelephoto lens to a wide-angle lens and risk getting dust in the sensor when you carry a smartphone capable of taking good wide-angle photos anyway? Having something to get gopro-like footage without the bulk of a gopro could certainly be handy on occasion.

Yes. My 'normal' camera kit for a wildlife shoot is now my Nikon D850 + 200-500mm lens and my iPhone 12 Pro. The iPhone is great for capturing snaps of people, nice locations, etc, during the shoot although if I was doing a dedicated non-wildlife shoot I'd pack alt lenses for the D850.

I think the iPhone is actually better for capturing casual video and I use LumaFusion to give myself an on-phone video editing capability that is comparable with (say) Premier Elements. Again, if was shooting wildlife video I'd pack a tripod and a dedicated video head, but this is a massive weight commitment.

I will!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com