Meta announces Oakley smart glasses

[jmsflknr]

Official announcement: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/blog/oakley-meta-ai-glasses-sport...

[sleepyguy]

My elderly mother-in-law is slowly going blind. She relies on Meta glasses to read print on everything — from the back of a can to the mail. She also uses them to help locate items around the house, whether it’s something on the counter or in the living room.

I’ve tried the glasses myself, and I’m convinced that wearable eyewear like this will eventually replace the mobile phone. With ongoing advances in miniaturization, it’s only a matter of time before AR and AV are fully integrated into everyday wearables.

[Janicc]

I believe it's going to replace smartphones like smartphones replaced computers or more specifically laptops.

[gwbas1c]

> and I’m convinced that wearable eyewear like this will eventually replace the mobile phone

Once there is an actual usable in-glasses screen, I will agree.

A few years ago I tried someone's smartglasses with a screen. It basically had similar functionality to my first Fitbit: it would show texts, notifications, caller ID.

I really want one of those and went looking, but couldn't find it.

[hn_throwaway_99]

> I’ve tried the glasses myself, and I’m convinced that wearable eyewear like this will eventually replace the mobile phone.

I sure as f* hope not. I already struggle with my cellphone addiction and all of its constant distractions and assaults on my attention span, the last thing I want is something from one of the largest advertising companies on the planet glued to my face.

[SoftTalker]

I don't think so. You still would have to wear glasses, which is annoying.

[tw04]

And what is the non-verbal input method for these glasses that isn’t painful to use?

Because it’s not going to ever be socially acceptable to just start talking to your glasses vs silently typing on a phone in most public places/situations.

[mrweasel]

Even if AR glasses can replace smartphones, I think there will be a bigger push back than on smartphones. A lot of us have seen what smartphones have done to society, and will be reluctant to adopt any new form of technology that could have the same level of disruption. It's the same as with e.g. Facebook or Twitter/X. I've seen what these social media companies have inflicted on humanity and I will never signup for another one.

[mdhb]

I’m glad your mother found some use case for them but honestly day to day interactions on the street… if you think you can just walk around filming people 24/7 with no sense of consent while beaming all that shit back into metas digital surveillance machine… I don’t know what to tell you other than to expect violence.

[ian-g]

I’m very glad your mother in law has use for them.

With that said, I don’t think these can replace phones until they’re quite a lot smaller and lighter. And to make it worse, you’d need at least two pairs - regular and sun. Possibly three if you’re someone who regularly uses safety glasses.

[amazingamazing]

I don't understand how she's using Meta glasses to read print. You mean it's dictating it, or are they prescription? If the former, do you need meta glasses for that? If it's the latter, wouldn't it work with any glasses?

I also don't understand how they're used to locate items around the house. Is there some sort of GPS? Or do you mean it helps by virtue of seeing (e.g. prescription)?

AR glasses will be a hit, no doubt, but I don't see what's so special about glasses with a mic, camera and speaker on them. Seems especially for an older person that it would be more useful getting a phone with a screen and pointing at things and seeing it on a display.

[deadbabe]

I have perfect vision I have no interest in wearing fake glasses all day.

And mobile phones aren’t going anywhere because mobile computing has peaked: there are no use cases that require a device with a different form factor, it’s just a matter of lifestyle preference.

If we’re abandoning screen based devices, I’d rather have a small 2000s style flip phone with all the latest tech and LLM features built in, than something like glasses, which clash too much with fashion choices. Bonus if the battery life is insane.

[leptons]

If you don't currently wear glasses all day every day because you need them to see, I can assure you that wearing glasses all day every day is not the luxury you might think it is.

It tends to wear on the bridge of the nose after a while. And I'm sure these e-glasses are going to be heavier than normal glasses with a battery and electronics in addition to the normal things glasses have.

[layer8]

I think this underestimates how many people dislike wearing glasses, and how much people don’t like interacting with people wearing non-transparent/colored glasses. You can flip a smartphone in and out of your pocket very quickly. The same is less practical (where do you put it?) and takes longer with glasses.

[racl101]

That's pretty cool. My mom is experiencing a lot of eye issues lately. So this is encouraging to hear.

I couldn't fathom if I would use these things for myself (at least not now, cause I'm ok with my Smartphone and don't really want to get a Meta account), but this, definitely changes my perspective a little.

[pizzathyme]

I agree. Some threshold in the past few years has been passed. I wear mine every day (and I don't wear glasses normally). Music, photos, videos all super useful. AI is lacking but will get better. Feels cool and not-embarassing in public

I think that they've done it, this is Meta's iPod

[dustbunny]

I'm interested in hearing more use cases! Anyone else got one?

[xylo]

Make sense why Meta invested in Scale AI.

[wiether]

So how do you prevent Meta from gathering secrets displayed for even a tenth of a second on an employee' screen? You'll have to ask security to check everyone's glasses now?

[wwweston]

Meta isn’t the last company I’d trust with a wearable always on video input (among other data no doubt), but they’re in the bracket.

[madog]

Not to mention Meta is ad tech so these will be full to the brim of tracking and adverts to recoup R+D costs.

I'm yet to be convinced these are useful and not just another way to inject ads directly into eyeballs.

[KennyBlanken]

Or keep it from violating recording and privacy laws?

How are these "smart glasses" legal in places like Germany where you (supposedly) can't even have a dashcam?

[itsdrewmiller]

Don’t press the button or use the voice command to take a picture - pretty simple. It’s not much easier to accidentally violate security with these than it is with a smart phone.

[KaiserPro]

For the always on glasses (not these, they dont have enough battery) they have https://www.projectaria.com/tools/egoblur/ running (sometimes)

its actually quite good. but it took them twoish years to get it into production.

but only for research, not on these glasses.

[OkGoDoIt]

Still no SDK though, what’s the point of smart glasses that only do what Meta lets them?

I’m personally more excited about the Mentra Live glasses, which are fully programmable with AugmentOS.

[femiagbabiaka]

In other hopefully unrelated news, the CTO of Meta just got sworn in as a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army.

[divan]

Weird take: my biggest annoyance with Meta glasses after 1+ year of almost daily usage is that there is no way to switch from Meta AI to any other voice AI.

[lostmsu]

They are connected to smartphone, aren't they? Pretty much any AI can work with any headset.

When I was testing my voice AI app with them there were no major issues: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6737482921?pt=12710...

[msgodel]

Hah so they're actually worse than my $16 bluetooth headphones unless you actually need the camera.

[bravesoul2]

Not a weird take. Just a shit product in that regard then.

[kaycebasques]

So there's no AR aspect to the lens on any of these Meta-partnered smart sunglasses, right? I assumed that was standard on all of them. Naive, I know, because that would require some amazing hardware. But it does go to show that we're still far from the Star Trek future that other simpleton consumers like myself might be hoping for / expecting.

[woodrowbarlow]

if by "AR" you mean 3d spatial environment mapping; correct, meta glasses don't have that.

i would argue, though, that having integrated access to AI that can react to what the user is seeing is a form of digitally augmented reality.

[itsdrewmiller]

There is no screen at all on these - there are some other glasses in the market that have some visual aspect (not environment-aware but spatially aware enough to keep a virtual monitor in place). This one is the current market leader I believe: https://us.shop.xreal.com/products/xreal-one-pro?srsltid=Afm...

[rxtexit]

Not that far, I think this is Meta Orion but it is still a little bit early. https://www.meta.com/emerging-tech/orion/

[Raed667]

Does it even matter if they have Oakley or any other logo on them? Aren't they all luxotica anyway?

[noisy_boy]

That's why they were spamming me several times in the last few weeks to buy the ray ban ones - trying to clear inventory.

[post_break]

Until they make it so you can replace the battery I'm not going to buy.

[toephu2]

Notice how the weight isn't advertised anywhere on the product page.

[oflannabhra]

I would love some sunglasses for running that show some basic metrics (similar to my Apple Watch) for my workout, equivalent to the FORM Smart Swim 1 [0]. However, I would mostly prefer this to be a dumb screen, with all the smarts off loaded to a watch or phone. I'm not sure why companies keep insisting on building such smart glasses as independent products.

[0] - https://www.formswim.com/products/smart-swim-goggles

[geor9e]

I knew they were about to launch a new model, by how aggressively they were advertising the old stock at sale prices the last few weeks.

I won't be buying it though - I tried talking to Meta AI in voice mode from my phone, and it's response to anything STEM related is basically "tee hee I'm just an AI I cant do that". My current assignee to my phone's AI hardware button is microsoft's. I assume it's an OpenAI model, but it lets you speed their voice up, which I value greatly.

[pfortuny]

“Unable to play videos without cookies”. OK, Meta, I can see your game.

[bravesoul2]

But what do they do?

A:

With Oakley Meta's glasses, you can:

Capture high-quality video and photos hands-free with a built-in ultra-wide 12 MP camera.

Listen to music, podcasts and more through Bluetooth speakers seamlessly integrated into the frames

Make and take phone calls hands-free

Live-stream your adventures, travels or daily life

Use Meta AI for instant information and assistance – just say "Hey Meta".

----

If you don't need the camera then just use a smartwatch that does much more. Maybe get a camera wrapped to your forehead instead.

[sandy_coyote]

You can always put your phone away in situations where it's not socially or administratively acceptable. But if you have prescription lenses or sun sensitivity, you need to leave these on. I can imagine there's gonna be some friction with adoption there.

[luxuryballs]

I was looking at the Ray-Ban version of these for a few minutes before I realized there’s no HUD… I wouldn’t even consider a dev kit for one of these unless I had some kind of ability to add a dragon ball scouter widget to show the power level on the lens…

[dustbunny]

I was stoked when I saw these headlines cause I generally prefer Oakley to Ray Ban in terms of style, but these look nothing like Oakley's! Personally I don't like round glasses, I like more square glasses. Dang!

[busymom0]

These glasses don't look "Oakley" to me. Usually oakleys have a sporty look. These look like Ray Ban or childish. Also that pic of Zuck wearing them looks pretty ridiculous imo.

[mfkp]

I'd like to thank Meta for permanently banning all of my accounts with no warning and no ability to appeal a few months ago. Now no need to waste money on these overpriced spy goggles.

[garbawarb]

Looks cool but I just hate the heaviness and feel of wearing acetate. If they ever make titanium smartglasses I'll be all over them.