9 ms·

These things lack a display. I don't want cameras strapped to my head, I want a lightweight display I can wear unobtrusively and doesn't make anyone near me ne

These things lack a display. I don't want cameras strapped to my head, I want a lightweight display I can wear unobtrusively and doesn't make anyone near me nervous (doubly so since this is from a company known for invading privacy), even if it's a fairly low resolution one. Version 1 could even be 4 lines of text and I'd still pay for it - I already wear glasses every waking moment of my life anyway. Pair it with my phone, give me driving directions which don't require me to take eyes off the road. Remind me of things when I arrive home or get in the car. Let me read texts. Overlay that 9-minute pasta timer in a corner of my field of view until it runs out. Blink in a corner to remind me that my lawn sprinklers are still running, so I don't go to sleep forgetting to turn them off (ahem). I'll probably learn to use a swype-style keyboard while keeping the phone in the pocket and looking ahead through the glasses. Come on, I grew up awed at the HUDs of Robocop and Terminator, give me a damn HUD, it's 2023.

kart23 3y ago
I mean, this is obviously where its going, but the tech isn't there yet without seriously compromising on some axis (looks, size/weight, etc) I think its a great way to get people used to the paradigm of smart glasses and further develop the other components that are already mature on phones (camera, compute, speakers, etc.)
- hcazz 3y ago
  Google Glass was released almost a decade ago, I'm not convinced the tech isn't there. I also had a RECON Mod Live HUD for my Snowboard Goggles which was released in 2011 which had a unit size not that far off from the Google Glass. It's disappointing that in 2023 there isn't something even remotely close (or better) to tech that was available 10+ years ago in the case of the RECON Mod Live.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- anjel 3y ago
  ...which is why its available for the already chunky wayfarer frames and not the svelte Aviators. Past camera spy glasses were so chunky as to be obvious if you know to look what to look for. Can't say how unobtrusive or obvious the lens is for the Metas but the Temples are not discernably thicker or different in appearance from non-enhanced Wayfarers. Wishing they'd Add an inertial sensor making them quite useful for tort / crim evidentiary purposes.
majormajor 3y ago
A readier-to-access camera means I could take pictures I can't now, since by the time I get my phone out the moment has passed. To me an always-on display in my glasses, on the other hand, seems like a ramp-up of screen-time-interruptions and very diminished gains compared to a phone or watch.
- vidarh 3y ago
  Cameras like this have been available for years. They're typically sold as "spy cameras", because that's how they're perceived. Amazon alone lists a few dozen models of various degrees reasonable appearance and features, most of them in the $40-$100 range. This is old enough that at least one startup has already failed to get traction for trying to establish a standard to clip cameras onto glasses... What you're paying for here is the Ray-Ban branding, not innovation.
aqme28 3y ago
> Pair it with my phone, give me driving directions which don't require me to take eyes off the road. I already do this with mine using audio.
- pzo 3y ago
  sometimes audio is not enough, e.g. when driving motorbike/scooter in big city (Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur) audio navigation is not enough to on time figure out which lane ramp you have to use at some intersection.
  - freeflight 3y ago
    For motorbikes there are already options to get a HUD in the helmet, i.e. a CrossHelmet or Argon Transform. This is not an endorsement of these products, I have no idea if they are actually any good.
ajhurliman 3y ago
Yeah, that’s just not what the product is. It’s not targeted at helping people navigate roads, it’s for giving creators a more seamless way of getting footage in their everyday life. Meta spent a crazy amount of money hosting a giant party at VidCon (a YouTube/TikTok/Instagram focused convention) and I haven’t really seen them pushing these glasses anywhere else. Casey Neistat did a review on the first-gen version in the context of how it helped him film. This really seems like a tool for creators at this point, even if it may morph into something else later.
- vidarh 3y ago
  "Spy cameras" like these have been available cheaply for years. The only thing new here is the Ray-Ban brand connection.
  - ajhurliman 3y ago
    Well, the integration into social media is novel too. When I did a demo I signed into my account and when I filmed something it went directly as a post to my IG. If there were more ability to do more editing and get access to the raw footage that would be helpful; I haven’t tested this version though so I don’t know what it does/doesn’t offer.
    - vidarh 3y ago
      There are several glasses that allows live-streaming over wifi to your phone, and that will give you access to the raw footage.
  - nickthegreek 3y ago
    These aren’t even new. They have been available for years.
    - ajhurliman 3y ago
      True, but the first version was garbage, the resolution was like 2007 Razr quality. I feel like the better image quality, battery life, and form-factor this gets, it will become a lot more compelling a product. I would never have bought the last version, but with the image quality on this one it may be worth it (plus the call-related stuff, although I normally have AirPods with me).
m463 3y ago
> I don't want cameras strapped to my head Not only is VR/AR hard, a camera is still very aligned with their business model :)
singularity2001 3y ago
Yes, it's the creep factor of Google Glasses without the utility display
throw7 3y ago
This is more simstim a'la neuromancer than robocop.
CommitSyn 3y ago
Imagine that while you're driving, a big line of text that you can't see through appears on your windshield. Worse yet the text is opaque but you have to concentrate on it to read it. All this would do is give drivers a false sense of security in your directions example. You'll be concentrating on the text regardless, meaning your concentration is off the road. Even that autopilot sense where you drive your daily routine for 30 minutes and don't remember minutes 20 of it still has your subconscious aware of obstacles in the road, etc. This would require your concentration to be on the text. Whether you want it to or not.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- sterlind 3y ago
  HUDs like this are already common on fighter jets, and even some passenger aircraft, precisely so you don't have to look away to check gauges. Are you saying riding a motorcycle requires more concentration than flying an FA/18 Hornet?
  - CommitSyn 3y ago
    In the jets, are all parts of the HUD always visible and they train to work around them as if it weren't part of the window but rather a permanent obstruction, or does the text pop up unexpectedly while they're flying? > Are you saying riding a motorcycle requires more concentration than flying an FA/18 Hornet? Are you saying that building strawmen is more important than the visibility of an FA/18 Hornet?
    - sterlind 3y ago
      the BMW motorcycle HUD doesn't have text that pops up unexpectedly, as far as I can see from the demo video. quite the opposite: the HUD stays in one place, and it only displays speed and navigation info, and it doesn't seem very obstructing. maybe we're talking about different smart glasses?
jedberg 3y ago
Have you seen this: https://www.visor.com/shop https://www.visor.com/shop Disclosure, I'm an investor. But I share this as a fellow technologist who just bought one. It's meant for working in VR/AR so it only ties to computers, but it might still work for you.
- r0fl 3y ago
  Cool tech but those are hideous compared to a slightly thicker pair of Ray Bans
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
jansan 3y ago
It is impossible to have a good display with a transparent lens, because you have to overlay the light that passes the lens with an even brighter light. Unless they find a way to dim shapes on the lenses, this will always be sub-optimal. What will work is a camera on your VR device, that will give you a quasi-AR device, but those are still clunky and as you can see with the iGlasses they look a bit spooky from outside.
pj_mukh 3y ago
Unpopular opinion (even wsj wrote this product off [1]) but as a new dad these things have been an absolute game changer. I continue to play with my toddler at all times but I can also capture critical moments without my kid thinking I’m constantly on my phone. The grandparents have the footage on loop. This is just a win-win-win all around tbh even without any displays. [1]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/metas-ray-ban-smart-glasses-fail-to-catch-on-31f6ba4e https://www.wsj.com/articles/metas-ray-ban-smart-glasses-fai... PS: added benefit that when I don’t pick up my phone to get to the camera constantly I conveniently miss the attention destroying notifications most times from other Meta products PPS: Caveat: I live in a sunny location so sunglasses make sense most days.
- kridsdale3 3y ago
  Honestly this single HN comment may have turned my opinion of the product category around.
  - meowtimemania 3y ago
    Yeah this would be a great way to market them!
  - Mekulpa 3y ago
    Wearing the same glasses constantly just in case your kid makes a thing? There is a reason why people get lasik. But hey if people start wearing more sunglasses outside good for them it's better for the eyes.
- bsimpson 3y ago
  This was what made the original Glass interesting - being able to live your life while also archiving memories for Future You etc. Still, Facebook isn't exactly a company that has earned trust to fill that role.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
whartung 3y ago
> I want a lightweight display I can wear unobtrusively and doesn't make anyone near me nervous The BWM Connected Ride Glasses are close to this: https://www.bmw-motorrad.ie/en/wear/Apparel/connectedride-smartglasses.html https://www.bmw-motorrad.ie/en/wear/Apparel/connectedride-sm... They're specific for motorcycle riding (vs, you know, a pasta timer), but that's a detail of application. Other than that, it's a pair glasses with a built in HUD for...HUD things.
boarnoah 3y ago
It is extremely bizarre to advertise with typical Mixed Reality use cases (with display elements overlaid in your field of vision). Is this actually true or do the people here who say "it lacks a display" mean something else? That it's not suitable for VR or non overlay applications?
- joemi 3y ago
  Look at the Product Tour part of the page. Zero mention of a display = no display.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

kart23 3y ago

I mean, this is obviously where its going, but the tech isn't there yet without seriously compromising on some axis (looks, size/weight, etc) I think its a great way to get people used to the paradigm of smart glasses and further develop the other components that are already mature on phones (camera, compute, speakers, etc.)

hcazz 3y ago
Google Glass was released almost a decade ago, I'm not convinced the tech isn't there. I also had a RECON Mod Live HUD for my Snowboard Goggles which was released in 2011 which had a unit size not that far off from the Google Glass. It's disappointing that in 2023 there isn't something even remotely close (or better) to tech that was available 10+ years ago in the case of the RECON Mod Live.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
anjel 3y ago
...which is why its available for the already chunky wayfarer frames and not the svelte Aviators. Past camera spy glasses were so chunky as to be obvious if you know to look what to look for. Can't say how unobtrusive or obvious the lens is for the Metas but the Temples are not discernably thicker or different in appearance from non-enhanced Wayfarers. Wishing they'd Add an inertial sensor making them quite useful for tort / crim evidentiary purposes.

majormajor 3y ago

A readier-to-access camera means I could take pictures I can't now, since by the time I get my phone out the moment has passed. To me an always-on display in my glasses, on the other hand, seems like a ramp-up of screen-time-interruptions and very diminished gains compared to a phone or watch.

vidarh 3y ago
Cameras like this have been available for years. They're typically sold as "spy cameras", because that's how they're perceived. Amazon alone lists a few dozen models of various degrees reasonable appearance and features, most of them in the $40-$100 range. This is old enough that at least one startup has already failed to get traction for trying to establish a standard to clip cameras onto glasses... What you're paying for here is the Ray-Ban branding, not innovation.

aqme28 3y ago

> Pair it with my phone, give me driving directions which don't require me to take eyes off the road. I already do this with mine using audio.

pzo 3y ago
sometimes audio is not enough, e.g. when driving motorbike/scooter in big city (Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur) audio navigation is not enough to on time figure out which lane ramp you have to use at some intersection.
- freeflight 3y ago
  For motorbikes there are already options to get a HUD in the helmet, i.e. a CrossHelmet or Argon Transform. This is not an endorsement of these products, I have no idea if they are actually any good.

ajhurliman 3y ago

Yeah, that’s just not what the product is. It’s not targeted at helping people navigate roads, it’s for giving creators a more seamless way of getting footage in their everyday life. Meta spent a crazy amount of money hosting a giant party at VidCon (a YouTube/TikTok/Instagram focused convention) and I haven’t really seen them pushing these glasses anywhere else. Casey Neistat did a review on the first-gen version in the context of how it helped him film. This really seems like a tool for creators at this point, even if it may morph into something else later.

vidarh 3y ago
"Spy cameras" like these have been available cheaply for years. The only thing new here is the Ray-Ban brand connection.
- ajhurliman 3y ago
  Well, the integration into social media is novel too. When I did a demo I signed into my account and when I filmed something it went directly as a post to my IG. If there were more ability to do more editing and get access to the raw footage that would be helpful; I haven’t tested this version though so I don’t know what it does/doesn’t offer.
  - vidarh 3y ago
    There are several glasses that allows live-streaming over wifi to your phone, and that will give you access to the raw footage.
- nickthegreek 3y ago
  These aren’t even new. They have been available for years.
  - ajhurliman 3y ago
    True, but the first version was garbage, the resolution was like 2007 Razr quality. I feel like the better image quality, battery life, and form-factor this gets, it will become a lot more compelling a product. I would never have bought the last version, but with the image quality on this one it may be worth it (plus the call-related stuff, although I normally have AirPods with me).

m463 3y ago

> I don't want cameras strapped to my head Not only is VR/AR hard, a camera is still very aligned with their business model :)

singularity2001 3y ago

Yes, it's the creep factor of Google Glasses without the utility display

throw7 3y ago

This is more simstim a'la neuromancer than robocop.

CommitSyn 3y ago

Imagine that while you're driving, a big line of text that you can't see through appears on your windshield. Worse yet the text is opaque but you have to concentrate on it to read it. All this would do is give drivers a false sense of security in your directions example. You'll be concentrating on the text regardless, meaning your concentration is off the road. Even that autopilot sense where you drive your daily routine for 30 minutes and don't remember minutes 20 of it still has your subconscious aware of obstacles in the road, etc. This would require your concentration to be on the text. Whether you want it to or not.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
sterlind 3y ago
HUDs like this are already common on fighter jets, and even some passenger aircraft, precisely so you don't have to look away to check gauges. Are you saying riding a motorcycle requires more concentration than flying an FA/18 Hornet?
- CommitSyn 3y ago
  In the jets, are all parts of the HUD always visible and they train to work around them as if it weren't part of the window but rather a permanent obstruction, or does the text pop up unexpectedly while they're flying? > Are you saying riding a motorcycle requires more concentration than flying an FA/18 Hornet? Are you saying that building strawmen is more important than the visibility of an FA/18 Hornet?
  - sterlind 3y ago
    the BMW motorcycle HUD doesn't have text that pops up unexpectedly, as far as I can see from the demo video. quite the opposite: the HUD stays in one place, and it only displays speed and navigation info, and it doesn't seem very obstructing. maybe we're talking about different smart glasses?

jedberg 3y ago

Have you seen this: https://www.visor.com/shop https://www.visor.com/shop Disclosure, I'm an investor. But I share this as a fellow technologist who just bought one. It's meant for working in VR/AR so it only ties to computers, but it might still work for you.

r0fl 3y ago
Cool tech but those are hideous compared to a slightly thicker pair of Ray Bans
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

jansan 3y ago

It is impossible to have a good display with a transparent lens, because you have to overlay the light that passes the lens with an even brighter light. Unless they find a way to dim shapes on the lenses, this will always be sub-optimal. What will work is a camera on your VR device, that will give you a quasi-AR device, but those are still clunky and as you can see with the iGlasses they look a bit spooky from outside.

pj_mukh 3y ago

Unpopular opinion (even wsj wrote this product off [1]) but as a new dad these things have been an absolute game changer. I continue to play with my toddler at all times but I can also capture critical moments without my kid thinking I’m constantly on my phone. The grandparents have the footage on loop. This is just a win-win-win all around tbh even without any displays. [1]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/metas-ray-ban-smart-glasses-fail-to-catch-on-31f6ba4e https://www.wsj.com/articles/metas-ray-ban-smart-glasses-fai... PS: added benefit that when I don’t pick up my phone to get to the camera constantly I conveniently miss the attention destroying notifications most times from other Meta products PPS: Caveat: I live in a sunny location so sunglasses make sense most days.

kridsdale3 3y ago
Honestly this single HN comment may have turned my opinion of the product category around.
- meowtimemania 3y ago
  Yeah this would be a great way to market them!
- Mekulpa 3y ago
  Wearing the same glasses constantly just in case your kid makes a thing? There is a reason why people get lasik. But hey if people start wearing more sunglasses outside good for them it's better for the eyes.
bsimpson 3y ago
This was what made the original Glass interesting - being able to live your life while also archiving memories for Future You etc. Still, Facebook isn't exactly a company that has earned trust to fill that role.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

whartung 3y ago

> I want a lightweight display I can wear unobtrusively and doesn't make anyone near me nervous The BWM Connected Ride Glasses are close to this: https://www.bmw-motorrad.ie/en/wear/Apparel/connectedride-smartglasses.html https://www.bmw-motorrad.ie/en/wear/Apparel/connectedride-sm... They're specific for motorcycle riding (vs, you know, a pasta timer), but that's a detail of application. Other than that, it's a pair glasses with a built in HUD for...HUD things.

boarnoah 3y ago

It is extremely bizarre to advertise with typical Mixed Reality use cases (with display elements overlaid in your field of vision). Is this actually true or do the people here who say "it lacks a display" mean something else? That it's not suitable for VR or non overlay applications?

joemi 3y ago
Look at the Product Tour part of the page. Zero mention of a display = no display.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]