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Somehow we've actually managed to regress from 2013's Google Glass. Always-on microphone and camera sold by one of the world's sketchiest privacy invaders? Che

Somehow we've actually managed to regress from 2013's Google Glass. Always-on microphone and camera sold by one of the world's sketchiest privacy invaders? Check. Display that actually takes advantage of the glasses form factor? Nope. Sounds like this could just as easily be the Humane pin.

Handy-Man 1y ago
It's not always on. How do you skeptics always manage to get things wrong to get your point across?
- demosthanos 1y ago
  If you can ask "Hey Meta, ..." while holding a golf club and unable to touch a button (which the promo video [0] shows you can) then the mic is always on. It may not always be beaming data to Meta, but that's a matter of trust, which I don't have much of for Meta given their history. The camera may or may not be always on, but it can be turned on by software activated by the always-on mic (again, demonstrated by the promo video), so it would be best to treat it as though it is. [0] https://about.fb.com/news/2025/06/introducing-oakley-meta-glasses-a-new-category-of-performance-ai-glasses/ https://about.fb.com/news/2025/06/introducing-oakley-meta-gl...
  - elondaits 1y ago
    The “Hey *” (Meta, Siri, Alexa) is typically handled by a simpler mechanism on a short buffer that triggers the proper recording and speech recognition workflow in order to save battery. But if you’re not going to trust the company, then the fact that it responds to Hey Meta shouldn’t make any difference because it could still be quietly recording. The fact that it responds to a wakeup prompt changes nothing.
    - demosthanos 1y ago
      I'm aware of the mechanism, but that mechanism relies on a mic that is always on. I agree that the primary issue is that it's a software-controlled microphone with no off switch controlled by software written by Meta. I only emphasized the wake word listening in response to OP's claim that it's not always on when it must be.
- meepmorp 1y ago
  how can it respond to voice prompts if it's not listening?
  - echoangle 1y ago
    The claim was always-on mic and camera. The mic might be always on, the camera doesn’t have to.
    - demosthanos 1y ago
      I responded to that above. If the mic is always on and controls the camera (both of which are demonstrated in the promo video), any reasonable approach to infosec needs to treat the camera as always on as well.
      - echoangle 1y ago
        Maybe, but that doesn’t mean that the camera is always on. It’s like saying a person holding an empty gun and a magazine is holding a loaded weapon because they can quickly reload it. It doesn’t really change the effect but it’s still an error.
        deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
        demosthanos 1y ago
        Whether an empty gun and a magazine counts as a loaded gun varies state-by-state, so the distinction is not as clear-cut as you make it sound. New York State penal code defines a loaded gun as follows: > 15. "Loaded firearm" means any firearm loaded with ammunition or any firearm which is possessed by one who, at the same time, possesses a quantity of ammunition which may be used to discharge such firearm. So I guess I'm using the New York definition of an always-on camera. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/265.00 https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/265.00
    - toofy 1y ago
awongh 1y ago
Crazy how much more acceptable this is only 12 years later. People were so angry in 2013.
toast0 1y ago
Google glass was a display that was up and to the right of where you want to be looking. I don't know about everyone, but I found it pretty hard to use. Caveat, I didn't get them fit to me, I was supervising an intern working on a speculative Glass project, and they were fit to him. AR would be neat, but voice interfaces are acheivable at an approachable cost. I'm not one to talk to a computer, and I wear prescription lenses, so these glasses don't appeal to me, but I can see there's a market there, not sure how big or if Meta can capture it.
- demosthanos 1y ago
  Right, I'm not claiming Glass was good, but it at least attempted to use the glasses form factor for something.
  - toast0 1y ago
    The camera to capture 'what you see' seems like using the form factor pretty well. Mic and speakers, too. Glass attempted a display, but IMHO, it was unusable, so I understand why you would try the same thing with no display. Or the same thing, but mounted on your wrist (Google Wear).
kotaKat 1y ago
It's one of those times you just want to "OK Glass" the person around you that says "Hey, Meta" with their privacy-invading cameras.
georgeecollins 1y ago
Well it shows you what was the real problem with glass, it looked dorky. I wish people cared about privacy but in general they don't.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

Handy-Man 1y ago

It's not always on. How do you skeptics always manage to get things wrong to get your point across?

demosthanos 1y ago
If you can ask "Hey Meta, ..." while holding a golf club and unable to touch a button (which the promo video [0] shows you can) then the mic is always on. It may not always be beaming data to Meta, but that's a matter of trust, which I don't have much of for Meta given their history. The camera may or may not be always on, but it can be turned on by software activated by the always-on mic (again, demonstrated by the promo video), so it would be best to treat it as though it is. [0] https://about.fb.com/news/2025/06/introducing-oakley-meta-glasses-a-new-category-of-performance-ai-glasses/ https://about.fb.com/news/2025/06/introducing-oakley-meta-gl...
- elondaits 1y ago
  The “Hey *” (Meta, Siri, Alexa) is typically handled by a simpler mechanism on a short buffer that triggers the proper recording and speech recognition workflow in order to save battery. But if you’re not going to trust the company, then the fact that it responds to Hey Meta shouldn’t make any difference because it could still be quietly recording. The fact that it responds to a wakeup prompt changes nothing.
  - demosthanos 1y ago
    I'm aware of the mechanism, but that mechanism relies on a mic that is always on. I agree that the primary issue is that it's a software-controlled microphone with no off switch controlled by software written by Meta. I only emphasized the wake word listening in response to OP's claim that it's not always on when it must be.
meepmorp 1y ago
how can it respond to voice prompts if it's not listening?
- echoangle 1y ago
  The claim was always-on mic and camera. The mic might be always on, the camera doesn’t have to.
  - demosthanos 1y ago
    I responded to that above. If the mic is always on and controls the camera (both of which are demonstrated in the promo video), any reasonable approach to infosec needs to treat the camera as always on as well.
    - echoangle 1y ago
      Maybe, but that doesn’t mean that the camera is always on. It’s like saying a person holding an empty gun and a magazine is holding a loaded weapon because they can quickly reload it. It doesn’t really change the effect but it’s still an error.
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
      - demosthanos 1y ago
        Whether an empty gun and a magazine counts as a loaded gun varies state-by-state, so the distinction is not as clear-cut as you make it sound. New York State penal code defines a loaded gun as follows: > 15. "Loaded firearm" means any firearm loaded with ammunition or any firearm which is possessed by one who, at the same time, possesses a quantity of ammunition which may be used to discharge such firearm. So I guess I'm using the New York definition of an always-on camera. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/265.00 https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/265.00
  - toofy 1y ago

awongh 1y ago

Crazy how much more acceptable this is only 12 years later. People were so angry in 2013.

toast0 1y ago

Google glass was a display that was up and to the right of where you want to be looking. I don't know about everyone, but I found it pretty hard to use. Caveat, I didn't get them fit to me, I was supervising an intern working on a speculative Glass project, and they were fit to him. AR would be neat, but voice interfaces are acheivable at an approachable cost. I'm not one to talk to a computer, and I wear prescription lenses, so these glasses don't appeal to me, but I can see there's a market there, not sure how big or if Meta can capture it.

demosthanos 1y ago
Right, I'm not claiming Glass was good, but it at least attempted to use the glasses form factor for something.
- toast0 1y ago
  The camera to capture 'what you see' seems like using the form factor pretty well. Mic and speakers, too. Glass attempted a display, but IMHO, it was unusable, so I understand why you would try the same thing with no display. Or the same thing, but mounted on your wrist (Google Wear).

kotaKat 1y ago

It's one of those times you just want to "OK Glass" the person around you that says "Hey, Meta" with their privacy-invading cameras.

georgeecollins 1y ago

Well it shows you what was the real problem with glass, it looked dorky. I wish people cared about privacy but in general they don't.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]