I ran, raved, and road-tripped with Ray-Ban Meta glasses Im still shocked by these AI features
A few months ago, I was seated beside a man muttering to himself on the subway.Not exactly unusual while taking public transportation, but then I realized he wasn’t actually talking to himself.
He was talking to his sunglasses.They were from Meta, which first launched its smart glasses two years ago and unveiled the upgraded second generation this September.On Meta’s site, a sleek promo video plays beside the line: “AI glasses blend form and function, helping you stay connected and present — in style.” The eloquent yet somewhat ambiguous messaging left me wondering just how present a piece of wearable technology can really make you feel.With the upgraded Meta Wayfarers, you can take calls through discreet open-ear speakers, send and receive texts, listen to music, ask for directions, check the weather, snap photos and even ask them to identify what you’re looking at.
You can also take hands-free video footage, a major draw for runners.In many ways, Meta AI acts like a personal assistant — or, as my boomer-mom puts says, “It’s like having Siri strapped to your face,” which, for someone who isn’t exactly tech-savvy, feels oddly accurate.AI is already everywhere: in the robots packing our Amazon boxes, the algorithms writing our playlists, and the search bars we confess our deepest secrets to.
Smart glasses feel like a natural evolution in our technology and have certainly caught buzz on social media, but as a parent, I still can’t ignore the darker side.It’s unsettling to think how easily someone could record people or places with these glasses, even with their tiny recording light (which, by the way, isn’t super obvious in bright light).Because of this, the glasses have come under some scrutiny for related privacy concerns.
Most recently, an influencer went in for a Brazilian wax, only to discover her waxer was wearing them.In my quest to understand the benefits (as well as the safety concerns) of this new technology, I spent a month t...