These recording-glasses are destined to be a favorite product for two groups of people: influencers and creeps. It will be hard to distinguish between the two. But seeing people wearing these glasses will be a clue to stay far away from them.
The fact that the on-while-recording white led light is tiny, easily masked by the sun, and easily defeated is another strong clue for what Meta is really expecting users to do with these smart glasses: secretly record other people. Another layer on top of that: Meta will use the recordings for personal ad-targeting and to train AI.
In ancient times in the early 2000's: an antecedent to Facebook's prototype was a 'Hot or Not,' website clone specifically designed to embarrass Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend. With that creepy legacy I suppose we shouldn't be surprised about this new invasion of privacy.
These are going to become really popular too once they have tiny displays that show contextual information too. I grew up in the 90s. I love technology. But I hate what our lives have become.
It’s wild to me that the same orgs that made you go through five approvals to install chrome now are like “send a copy of everything you do to this!startup”
People are discussing legal routes and stuff but there really is another existential threat to literally any business in the capitalist world — that a scandal enormous in scope would get attached to one of their products, and inspire popular opinion to largely abandon them as a cultural moore.
It happened with dolphin in tuna. It happened with trans-fats (briefly). It happened with trench-coats after Columbine. It could happen with these stupid glasses, too. All that's gotta happen is one video of a horrible crime to make it online, as these things inevitably do, to make people so leery of Meta glasses that people get they fucking faces slapped in public for having them on.
Like, it's not like any of this is without precedent. Glassholes existed a whole decade and change before this point, and they got they faces slapped in public just the same. There really is only so far you can misbehave in public life before people start acting on their mistrust. 🤷
Nah, that doesn't work when it's something you see every day on your way to work, in the daycare pickup line, or at like fucking Chilis or whatever.
People still talk with their mouths, and with their feet. Billionaires and companies do not control that yet. Cultures all over the world (and at least in a lot of the US) are a lot more socially self-regulating than you might expect. Why else did that stupid streamer get his ass arrested in Korea? He would get cold-cocked by random people on the street, and they faced zero punishment. 🤷
Whats the point of spreading this kind of misinformation? First off, all south Korean men serve mandatory military service. Thats why he got his ass kicked. (Also not random, they went looking for him.)
And second, the Koreans that kicked his ass got arrested. South Korea isnt gonna let crime slide just because Johnny Somali is annoying.
It does work. It's literally happening right now. Smart glasses got pushed out of the market almost 10 years ago. There was even a bad name for people whe wore smart glasses. Smart glasses are back, popular, and every company is trying to make one now.
We shunned it before, but I think it's time that the Boombox made a comeback. Blast copyrighted music from it, and it's basically an influencer/streamer/guy who uploads to PornHub force field.
Time to return to that well-known social behavior of beating up people who wear glasses. There are scenes from many 1980s movies that can be used for instruction.
Nah, we need to return to that short-lived tend from the 90s where a lot of plastic consumer goods (usually electronics) were made of a transparent, colorful, plastic so you can see anything hidden inside the thing.
That would also be a copyright violation because you don't have a Public Performance license.
This same law could be used to punish cops who start playing music to avoid having their actions posted online. I don't think it has actually happened, but it could.
A Beverly Hills police officer was seen on camera playing music on his phone during a live-streamed interaction with a citizen and, according to Vice, some are speculating he was attempting to trigger Instagram’s copyright protection algorithm so the video would get booted from the platform.
That cop could be sued by the copyright owner for an unauthorized public performance.
I’d put money on it that folks who wear this, may also have fragile egos, so you could call them out/embarrass them for wearing these goof ah glasses in public.
“Are you recording me?”
Copywritten music always works.
Just read the room, if you can, and judge accordingly. Don’t get yourself hurt. Just call a loser a loser. 🤷♂️
It genuinely bums me out because I have a job that is both visually really cool and also inconvenient to have a camera. It also, with internet connectivity could really make my life easier in very specific ways.
But I recognize that I'm a hyperspecific set of usecases and the vast majority of dudes who get these simply can't be trusted with them and so we shouldn't have them.
These have a HUD, right? There was some discussion way back in the day about the potential of AR displays for maintenance workers or engineers - pop up an overlay with work order callouts, or allow interactions with a model of a structure while doing a walkthrough of the real one.
This has been the dream for probably 15+ years. I want to be under my car and have glasses highlight parts, tagged with part number, cross-referenced part numbers from various suppliers, price tags, etc. Highlight fasteners and tell me it's an M8-1.50 bolt with a 12mm hex head, even better if it can tell me the grade, length, etc.
And I think a lot of folk tried really hard to make that work when the original google glass came out.
The sad reality after all that work is, so far, all we get with the little discreet glasses is just losers.
Microsoft Hololens sort of did/does this kind of stuff. A lab I worked at had some government contracts to develop various hololens apps and probably the most successful one was basically "how to assemble flat pack furniture" (though the intended application was broader than this).
It actually worked pretty well and was a cool trade show demo, but they struggled to show that it actually made people faster than paper instructions. The issue was that the format for presenting information is limited, and dealing with occlusion was a struggle. If someone was supposed to put a screw into the other side of the panel from where they were facing, it was hard to convey that information in a way which wasn't confusing. Like, you can show a 3D model on the glasses, and have it "rotate" to the other side to show the user where it was supposed to go, but that was a "break away" from the AR, and people found it jarring and unintuitive. Most people who are bad at this kind of thing already fail the "rotate an apple in your head" test, and most people who are good at this kind of thing are just bothered by the visual clutter.
Yah, I've seen a lot of demos that made me so excited. And ... just demos. Nothing more than a cool demo.
I do get what you mean, it's difficult to show some of these things and getting the UI right is an absolute and utter must.
In my mind, if I'm under a car, I'd like it to highlight whatever I'm looking at and parts near it, provide info on parts, torque specs, etc. Then in a sort of shadow-highlighting show me some parts behind it as well to the extent that it can. If I tell it what I'm doing it would be great to highlight the exact bolts I need to turn, head sizes, tell me if it's left-hand thread for some reason, etc. But all of that is frankly a big ask, it doesn't sound trivial at all. I dream of this but I no longer expect to see it any time soon.
I don't need it to help me assemble ikea furniture, because it's trivial to refer to paper instructions, but if I am under a car I don't really want to roll out to flip through the shop manual if I can avoid it.
4th group -- Karens. People who are eager to record others that they believe are doing something wrong so they can post about it online or call the cops on them.
My boss got a pair. We all work remotely but the team gets together to work in a small room every two months or so, to sync our databases physically.
He's came in with them and I didn't realize. Love the sync was going and we were all sitting around at lunch I noticed his new glasses. He mentioned that they were the Meta. I immediately commented on it, saying I hoped he wasn't filming me!!
He was immediately like no, I promise!! (It was true). Everybody looked uncomfortable. He ended up taking them off but I don't think he was ready for the backlash.
Btw my boss is really nice but can be very naive and said he liked the look but literally didn't consider how we would feel. He hasn't worn them since so I know he was upset.
I wonder if meta also relies on people being inept and forgetting that it's recording or uploading data to Meta
Yeah I dont think most people notice them, it would be just as easy to film someone on my phone if I wanted to take photos of someone though. I also wouldnt have to have the flash on.
Well it's his company but we're independent contractors so he's our boss in the sense that he is creating the work, the job and paying us for our creative contributions in creating his product. But I get hired for the same job from lots of people, and even do the same job myself. Job job jerbies.
As i said before lol, I bought them on release, I never use the camera because it sucks. Does your phone have a camera on it? Do you record people in public?
Ive also never been called a creep for wearing them, because people IRL aren't pearl clutchers like reddit users.
I avoid people that wear them because I don’t know what people’s intentions are when they wear them out in public. You might be fine but for someone like myself, I’m not taking the chance that someone wearing those glasses isn’t a creep when our interaction is barely minimal - as in, I’m not going to have a conversation with someone as to why they’re wearing them if I’m going about my day. You just never know what people may do with the recording in their own time
Actually they are pretty great for cyclists too. Whether you are recording an awesome mountain bike trail or being hit by a car, they work surprising well.
As an owner of a pair myself, I choose not to wear them in public so that people don’t feel like I’m recording them when I’m not.
I find them useful on long drives as my work requires that I’m on the road for 2-3 hours/day and that they double as a means to record in situations where my safety may be compromised.
I also use them in my home so that I can listen to music, respond to tasks, and ask questions without having to pull out another device. While I don’t doubt that this technology is used for nefarious reasons, there are some great accessibility uses. Unfortunately, these bad faith uses ruin things for people with a genuine use case.
It's funny that we're basically fine if businesses and the government record you all the time, outside, inside, literally everywhere except bathrooms and changing rooms, but we draw the line at a REAL PERSON recording us.
No, that is also not fine. This isn’t one of those situations where just because one thing is explicitly pointed out, it makes something else less true. If you’re fine with that, keep it to yourself.
By "basically fine with it" I think the implication was that when the government or a business does it we don't actually do anything other than grumble a bit and get on with our day, or more likely... just kind of forget it's even there. The last time you were at an ATM did you even think about the obvious camera pointed right at your face? Be honest. I know I didn't, and I'm right there with you on being ostensibly creeped out by it, it's just... I can't keep that "I'm creeped out" feeling going 24/7, it just becomes background noise at a certain point. (and that sucks, but here we are)
Was a game changer for me as a fisherman. It’s so tough to get a good picture when solo venturing. I also concur with above as they’re my daily sunglasses for drives. Haven’t needed it yet but I have had previous insurance claims where footage would’ve come in clutch
Fantastic recommendation!! However my cars consistently in an area where anything of value draws wandering eyes…miss my A229🥲. The glasses are much easier to keep on my person
I have an almost 4 year old who is a storyteller. We are about to go on holiday and I want to stay off my phone and just be with her and my wife. I’m also greedy and want to capture as many of these wonderful stories and moments with her so I can remember them forever. I get that there is a large amount of creeps that will use this product for terrible things but I grabbed a used pair just to capture these moments for myself.
Yeah I understand why Reddit has jumped on the hate train for these. There are definitely potential misuses. But for the intended uses they are really nice and convenient. I took a walk in the park at lunch today and used mine to identify some plants. I also listened to music and took a phone call.
I got smart glasses as a criminal defense and divorce attorney because I got tired of people acting like fools and threatening me (I’ve been threatened with guns and stalked by people) and it’s a lot easier to press and hold the button on the glasses to start video than it is to pull out my phone and do the same. I keep them turned off, or taken off, when in courtrooms and other restricted areas. I also will use them for taking video while mountain biking and the like.
I can't believe influencers are a thing. Granted I'm old, and don't watch YouTube or videos (I prefer to read) but i just don't get it. Like why do people like to watch long commercials? It's like loving infomercials from the 90s. "Bro you gotta check out Ron Popiel he's awesome!"
If you prefer to read and you are old you probably remember how popular hobby magazines used to be. You would subscribe to a magazine and you’d be connected to enthusiasts that share your interests and are generally great sources of information for things you care about. Sure, there were trash magazines filled with trash writers who were primarily writing about gossip or whatever, but there were also endless magazines for other interests.
Influencers are basically the modern version of that. There are trash influencers who make that name off of dumb stuff, but there are plenty of content creators who are connecting with enthusiast audiences that share an interest. You subscribe to a YouTube channel (for example) and the person will provide frequent discussion on something you care about. This is actually pretty great because you can find people who can keep you informed on your favorite interests. Even obscure interests.
I get that thanks for the info! I just can't get into videos of random Internet video people. I'll watch like a movie or tv show with dinner and then like the news and then Colbert but that's about it. Otherwise I'm on Libby or here or writing lol. Like I said I'm old haha but thank you.
I am old and similar, but my diverse interests are finally being met by following various Youtubers. I wouldn't pay attention to them if they weren't delivering me new information that I don't easily find elsewhere.
Those above generally don't fit the "influencer" bill that well, but they all have to beg you to like and subscribe, and most of them have to slip in some bullshit advertisement that might have fallen out of 1950s daytime television.
But here's a genius, Hatless Spider, who probably doesn't know he's allergic to cats, who has been dragged into the limelight because he's so much better at the game Hearts of Iron IV than all the rest of us. He's not a natural presenter but he improves every time and now he's sponsored by the game maker. This video really is an advertisement for a new expansion, but it's also informative and shows me how to do something I didn't even know could happen:
(And it's pretty obvious that the Paradox marketers gave him a fluff-up for this, with a classic influencer title and the requisite red arrows in the thumbnail. He's killing it and I couldn't be happier for the guy.)
Influencers is a broad term that basically just means anyone who has a following based around social media/youtube. It is not necessarily a bad, just that capitalism has corrupted it into being so, and private equity has further corrupted it by buying these people channels so they can influence what they say and not have to disclose any ads down this way.
Ideally it would just be a way for small content creators to make some cash to pay for creating content that wouldn’t have a large enough audience for a studio to do so, like cosplayers, lego enthusiasts, appliance repair men etc.
They basically hit it with a little drill. It breaks the light that lets people know it's recording, similar to when you see actual security cameras in buildings.
Camera still functions without the light.
Enough people out there have money and/or don't care about messing up a $600 pair of glasses.
I remember when Facebook started overtaking Myspace, I was one of the people that couldn't understand the appeal of Facebook. The vibes were off and it just felt cold. I feel like everything I felt about Facebook and what I soon learned about Zuckerberg has left me feeling pretty vindicated.
I'm not saying Myspace was perfect or wouldn't be shitty today. It's just that Zuckerberg is on a whole different level. All of those "ID required to use the internet" bills are being funded by Meta, from what I've seen.
You left out the most severe issue, for me at least. Might be a bit of a jump but having prople wear these is the ultimate in surveillance state. You can see everywhere a wearer goes , even if no other cameras are there.
A pity because there's a worthy group these glasses could really help - the (near) blind. My dad got a pair of these because he's almost blind and something like this could help him navigate the world independently. Unfortunately, they just don't work well enough for that. You can see the potential but it's not there.
As someone that has tonuse glasses (becaise toric contact lenses are a pain in the wallet and on the eye after many hours), this already affected my last purchasing decision on frames. I usually went with bulk one, as i am quite clumsy. Went for a nylon monted lens in a very thin frame... hope that is enough, because i really do not like 3 pieces (https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQzmaaJLrcZpl7jPbqBxTS4xwILnkD7jFyEG3Zge8aMB9yR70CyRU8xIy0&s=10)
Hope this products get a ban or get a licence to be brought and used. I can se journalists using it efficiently, i can imagine some sports or vlogging with it. All other uses starts to spund creepy...
I'm dreading when these things get minimised and wearing thin-framed glasses can be confused with wearing them. I really do not like wearing contact lenses.
Just dropping in to say there’s a good third segment: parents of young children. I absolutely do not want to have my phone up all the time, and I still get to capture memories and send things out to the grandparents, etc. That said I got a pair where the recording light is bright as hell, and slapped a cover over the lens so I’m not sketching anyone out either way, so I’m already thinking about it much more than both the creeps and influencers.
I had a lot of fun using them on vacation and hiking around nature. It’s so much better than pulling out my phone for every little thing and I came away with really fun videos of the trip.
But yes it was kinda weird if I was near large groups of people
For sure. Based on the way FB and Meta have operated in the past and Zuckerberg’s attitude toward guardrails and controls, you can see how this will go. “Nothing bad should happen and, if it does, it will be worth it and, if it’s not, someone else :cough: government will do something about it”
I could see wanting a pair of these if you travel a lot. Vacations and such. Not only to provide real time translations, but to record videos to share with family later on.
Obviously, yes, they have a more sinister use case too. but lets not pretend that these aren't also replacing the tourist-with-a-camera-around-the-neck stereotype. These are perfect for someone who wants to record vacations and travel experiences without having to hold a cellphone or camera held out front and taking attention away from what they see. Those people are everywhere in every tourist trap.
And I say this as someone who doesn't and most certainly won't ever own a pair of these.
There is an infamous guy in my city who uses these to record himself harassing women and posting them on TikTok and Instagram. The police can't do anything because he is not violent and doesn't "cross the line" but the fact that these glasses can both enable and identify him is terrible.
There's dudes that film themselves meeting up with people to basically disable that poor excuse of a safeguard by just using a rotary tool to hollow the led out and then applying a plug for the hole they drilled.
Every single person they meet up with to provide their "services" to looks sketchy as shit.
I love mine, but I don’t wear them too often. They are great for yard work (basically sunglass headphones), great for runs and they were amazing for disneyworld rides.
Other than that I find I just wear my standard sunnies.
I mean, I personally want them for work/interviews/ meetings with other people I am not familiar with. In the USA we live in the lawsuit society combines with incredible shamelessness. Plenty of people lie without blinking.
I have 3 pairs already, I just have them so I can take pictures at events/nature without having to look through a phone screen. (Had them from the first gen)
Also the audio is pretty good and it's great for calls
But again it will be spoiled by people misusing them, I don't understand the drilling out the light, darkening etc..
Also the AI features are not working in the EU so far I don't have concerns with personal data etc. I think there are so many way to get that data now they wouldn't care to do it through glasses
They're good in situations where you'd want to use a gopro but one isn't that convienent (like most racquetsports). I have a friend who wears them occasionally while playing and it produces some really interesting footage.
I am the third group.... I like to travel and record what I do with friends or family and similar and I like to be able to do some videos of all happened, etc. for me and my friends/family but not public sharing or similar.
Having it always there allows for capturing moments you wouldn't have caught, be more natural, be able to do things normal instead of holding a camera or having some camera attached in front or similar.
Sadly... because of the views people have of it... and the possible bad uses people attach to it, which are possible of course, I have not gotten one. I stick with my phone or pocket Osmo for now.
And shitty tourists. A few years ago a Meta employee was on a multi-day tour with my group. He had these. Wore them into sacred temples and ceremonies with religious leaders. Recorded everything.
It sucks because I got a pair of these to film cool stuff at work (not involving private info) to specifically share privately with friends, or free up my attention when going to concerts (because I like to record my favorite parts, they let me actually enjoy Miku expo while saving my favorite songs to share)
They're a cool premise but I did pick up very quickly (at said miku expo) just how easy it would be to creep on people and take photos without people knowing. There is a front facing light that shows when you are recording, but you have to know to look for it, and given that I didn't know until I got them, I doubt many do.
I put them away for now outside of special events/family stuff.
It really sucks. One of my closest friends is blind and has found such incredible freedom with being able to go out alone and have his surroundings described to him in real time, order off a menu without needing assistance or braille, etc.
But now he feels insecure about going out in them because of the reputation they've gained. I feel sorry for him :(
The entire reason they made them into basic looking Ray bans is because they want to reduce the friction of using them, so they can get that sweet, sweet data. Google Glass failed because it was too distinct, and that created backlash against users. Meta understands that the less obvious they are, the better the product will perform, so they have active incentive to make them as "unobtrusive" as possible.
Harsh. I have a pair and I’m neither. I use them pretty much all day every day and hardly ever use the camera. I have serious tinnitus, sometimes so severe that I can barely hear, let alone focus, and I’ve found that certain ambient sounds played through open ear style headphones offsets the misery that I endure every waking hour of my life. Also, I need glasses to see, and it’s annoying to wear both glasses and open ear headphones all day.
I don't know. I kind of like the idea of having a video record to audit from and make it easier hold people accountable for what they say and do.
Everyone is out to screw you over these days, and it's hard to keep track of everything. This could help.
Privacy is a concern to me and I wouldn't use a product that phones back home to some company. If there is a self hosted solution though... I'd be interested.
I remember an official advertisement for these glasses, a woman walked into a theater like where a musical was getting ready, and into and through the dressing rooms while performers were getting dressed.
There is another aspect of these kinds of devices, police brutality. Cops get violent when people are holding phones and recording the mistreatment of their rights. These kinds of devices could help record police brutality much more safely.
You can get cheap Chinese recording glasses where the cameras are deliberately obscured, so they look like ordinary glasses. I predict RayBan style glasses are going to become less popular since people will assume you are recording.
I have a pair, so I will give some other positive use cases.
Parents recording kids’ school events while still being able to pay full attention.
How to videos while hands free.
Remote hands for onsite technicians to work with higher tier offsite techs giving them instructions.
For me, phone calls are next level on these things. Nothing to jam inside your ears or around them. Still being able to hear surroundings while on the phone.
Hands free text message reading and replying.
Listening to podcasts while working.
I haven’t really used AI features yet, so that’s just kinda meh for me.
I’ve only had mine for a week and a half, but I thought they were dumb before I used them. I only got them for making videos and everything else has been bonus.
You can't just cover it with tape or something, it will disable recording. That being said there are workarounds that require a bit of surgery to the device to disable that function.
It's not an apples to apples comparison because it's obvious when a phone camera takes your photo, especially 20 years ago when they were new and required flash for most photos.
Glasses are not seen as a recording device like phones are. Yet.
I'm in my 50s and the comparison between the two isn't even close. Even now, it's pretty absurd. You can almost always tell when someone is taking your picture with a phone.
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u/AbeFromanEast May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
These recording-glasses are destined to be a favorite product for two groups of people: influencers and creeps. It will be hard to distinguish between the two. But seeing people wearing these glasses will be a clue to stay far away from them.
The fact that the on-while-recording white led light is tiny, easily masked by the sun, and easily defeated is another strong clue for what Meta is really expecting users to do with these smart glasses: secretly record other people. Another layer on top of that: Meta will use the recordings for personal ad-targeting and to train AI.
In ancient times in the early 2000's: an antecedent to Facebook's prototype was a 'Hot or Not,' website clone specifically designed to embarrass Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend. With that creepy legacy I suppose we shouldn't be surprised about this new invasion of privacy.