Ray-Ban Stories
Ray-Ban Stories are wearable computers, with the facility to record audio and video, mounted in a pair of glasses.[1][2][3] The product is a collaboration between EssilorLuxottica, a manufacturer of eyewear, and facebook.[4]
The glasses can also play podcasts, and streaming audio, for the wearer.[2] Customers can fit a variety of shaded and gradiated lenses into three similar styles of frames.[5][6]
They have been compared to Google Glass, a similar product introduced with great fanfare, by Google, only to be the target of ridicule.[1][2] In contrast to Google Glass, which came equipped with a small but very densely packed visual display, the first version of Ray-Ban Stories interacts with the wearer only through audio feedback.
An announcement, in 2019, did list a user display.[7] Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg continues to speak of plans to introduce more featureful versions, which would "augment reality", with an user display.
The glasses have triggered privacy concerns.[1][2] Facebook's app setup reminds wearers to respect the privacy of those around them, but the product's built-in assistant is designed to silently forward to forward audio and video to headquarters. While facebook has a long history of disrespecting their user's privacy, and selling data acquired about their users to marketers, they promised that, this time, the monitoring is solely for product improvement.
Commentators have noted that, while covering the LED that tells those nearby that the cameras are active would violate owners' terms of service, there would be no practical way for facebook to enforce this proscription.[8]
In its review Tech Crunch said the audio and video recordings made by the glasses were only "middling" quality.[4] The glasses are equipped with a pair of 5 megapixel cameras.[9] An LED is alit when the cameras are in operation.
CNBC noted that the glasses looked like normal glasses, and would not be an embarrassment to wear, in contrast to rivals like Google Glass and Snap Spectacles.[9]
The FSB, Russia's security service, classifies the glasses as a spy device, so they will not be available in Russia.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Queenie Wong. 'Hey Facebook, take a photo': The social network's smart glasses are here, CNET, 2021-09-09. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “'They're not yet augmented reality glasses,' Zuckerberg said, referring to technology that places digital images on someone's view of the real world. 'They're on the road there.'”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mike Isaac. Smart Glasses Made Google Look Dumb. Now Facebook Is Giving Them a Try., The New York Times, 2021-09-09, p. B1. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “The process was instant, simple, unobtrusive — and it was powered by Facebook, which has teamed up with Ray-Ban. Their new line of eyewear, called Ray-Ban Stories and unveiled on Thursday, can take photos, record video, answer phone calls and play music and podcasts.”
- ↑ Brett Molina. Facebook smart glasses: What it's like to wear Ray-Ban Stories, USA Today, 2021-09-09. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “I've had a pair of Ray-Ban Stories for a couple days now. Obviously, when you hear "smart glasses" you might think Google Glass. But what Facebook and Ray-Ban have rolled out is more akin to early versions of Spectacles, eyewear introduced in 2016 by Snapchat parent company Snap.”
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lucas Matney. Review: Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories make the case for smart glasses, Tech Crunch, 2021-09-09. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “The glasses made in partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica are certainly the most basic device Facebook has shipped. They only do a few things: You can take photos and videos; you can take phone calls; and you can listen to music. That’s it.”
- ↑ Bianca Salonga. Why Ray Ban Stories Is The Most Stylish And Practical Choice For Smart Glasses, Forbes magazine, 2021-10-14. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “The announcement of a partnership between Ray Bay and Facebook was nothing short of match made in heaven.”
- ↑ Tim Bajarin. Are The Ray-Ban Stories Training Wheels For AR Glasses?, Forbes magazine, 2021-09-09. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “Recently, Facebook announced a partnership with Ray-Ban to create glasses to include image, video-capture and audio. While not true AR glasses, the Ray-Ban Stories is a solid attempt by Facebook to enter the market for interactive glasses.”
- ↑ Salvador Rodriguez. Facebook working on smart glasses with Ray-Ban, code-named ‘Orion’, CNBC, 2019-09-17. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “he glasses are internally codenamed Orion, and they are designed to replace smartphones, the people said. The glasses would allow users to take calls, show information to users in a small display and live-stream their vantage point to their social media friends and followers.”
- ↑ Ben Egliston. Ray-Ban’s smart glasses let you wear Facebook on your face. But why would you want to?, Scroll.in, 2021-09-14. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “Ray-Ban Stories features a small light on the side of the frame, which is illuminated when recording. But it can easily be covered over, and while this would violate Facebook’s terms of service, it is hard to see how Facebook would realistically stop anyone doing it.”
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Salvador Rodriguez. Facebook just announced its new Ray-Ban glasses — I’ve been using them for a couple of days, here’s what they’re lik, CNBC, 2021-09-09. Retrieved on 2021-09-10. “Augmented reality features, which let you overlay digital content on top of the real world, are notably absent. You don’t see anything different when you look through them. Facebook had previously warned that AR capabilities would be missing from the Ray-Ban glasses, but the lack of AR feels like a disappointment, especially after Snap added AR to the latest iteration of its Spectacles in May.”
- ↑ Russia's FSB Says Facebook Smart Glasses ‘Spy Gadget’ – Reports, Moscow Times, 2021-10-12. Retrieved on 2021-10-14. “But Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said the futuristic smart glasses could act as a means of “secretly obtaining information,” the TJournal tech news website reported, citing the FSB’s press service.”