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Are the Ray-Ban | Meta Real Smart Glasses?
What they are now and what they could become.
Disclaimer: This is not a review of the product but a discussion about where smart glasses like these could be headed. If you want reviews, watch videos like this one.
Now, let’s get into it.
The first time I found out about the Ray-Ban | Meta glasses, I was shocked, and not in a good way: What? No augmented reality whatsoever? What kind of cr*p is this?
I have to say that I was, in a way, “primed” to look for AR features in smart glasses:
- Years after the failed Google Glasses made their (short) appearance, they became a kind of minimum standard: no new glasses could be below their capabilities.
- Many (not very successful) prototypes of smart glasses, like Snapchat spectacles, have made me expect soon-to-be AR smart glasses.
- The Apple Vision Pro gave a glimpse of what could be expected from headsets or perhaps glasses. True, they are not practical nor affordable, but they made us hope for better, more compact, and cheaper devices.
So, when I realized that the Ray-Ban | Meta glasses had no augmented (visual) reality at all, it was a cold shower.
I even read about Ray-Ban | Meta glasses’ audio capabilities without crediting them: “If I want some audio, why not just use my earbuds?”
But then I got what their true value is for practical life.
What it is
The Ray-Ban | Meta smart glasses have the following integrated equipment:
- Mini-speakers at the arms, pointing down to the ears.
- Set of microphones (several ones for noise canceling during calls).
- Video/photo camera near the left hinge. On the other side of the frame, there is a light indicating when the camera is shooting a video or a picture.
- Light indicator to indicate when it’s shooting a video or taking a photo.
- Sensitive surfaces on the temples.
- Accelerometers, gyroscopes, and batteries are integrated into the frame.
- Standard prescription glasses or shades.
