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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
by sleepyguy 1y ago
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.
- gwbas1c 1y ago> 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.
- ge96 1y agoWhat style was it, nreal (bulky) or something like Frame (though lower end in quality)
- themanmaran 1y agoYou might be interested in the EvenRealities G1 [1]. It's the absolute best form factor I've seen for just the text HUD https://www.evenrealities.com/ https://www.evenrealities.com/
- stickfigure 1y agoLooks amazing. Unfortunately from a Chinese company, and given how deeply integrated with my email, calendar, etc it would be... no interest.
- dontlaugh 1y agoDo you live in China? If not, why would you care? Meta, Microsoft, Apple, etc. are far more likely to snitch on you to the government you actually live under.
- stickfigure 1y agoDespite the trainwreck that is the current presidential administration, we have a hell of a long way to fall before our government is as malevolent China's.
- dontlaugh 1y agoI assume you mean the US. The same one that did a coup in my country, bombed my neighbours, invaded countless countries and is currently fully supporting a genocide. It certainly doesn’t compare, but not the way you think.
- bobthepanda 1y agoEh, they are doing a bunch of the above in the Myanmar conflict.
- ethersteeds 1y agoYou seem to assume that the risk begins and ends with government persecution/prosecution. I'm not the gp, but for me, there are several bigger concerns: First, the possibility that access could be leveraged for intelligence gathering or industrial espionage. The goal might be geopolitics, but I still don't want my data to be fodder nor do I want to explain to my employer that I'm responsible for their breach. Second, the possibility of becoming collateral damage during an escalation of hostilities between my country and China. If I've grown dependent a device, I face significant disruption if they block cloud services or even outright remotely brick it. The war in Ukraine demonstrated this isn't limited to the other country's exports, but they're still at the greatest risk. So yeah, a company snitching on me to big brother I live under is just one threat I have to consider when giving access to all my data.
- sroussey 1y agoI want that with a camera so it can do facial recognition from my LinkedIn when I’m at a networking event.
- mdhb 1y agoJust walk up and ask them their name like a normal person rather than doing some creepy fucking surveillance on them from across the room.
- sroussey 1y agoProblem is that I met them before. That’s the whole reason we are connected on LinkedIn in the first case. And they often know who I am, but I don’t remember them, so when I do as you suggest they get offended.
- gwbas1c 1y agoYeah, that's what I'm looking for. Do you have any experience with their progressives? The ones I'm trying are so lousy that I'm going to try multifocal contacts next week. According to the order form, their progressive lenses seem somewhat decent.
- ian-g 1y agoI’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.
- nhecker 1y agoPhotochromatic coatings -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photochromic_lens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photochromic_lens -- have existed for a while and are sold on safety glasses, at least according to a cursory look at a large online retailer's site. That said, I'm not sure I'd want smart glasses. Being stuck on a computer for work, I try to take some time every day to be completely free of digital things. It's hard enough to do that with a smart phone in my pocket vying for my attention. I imagine it would be only harder with smart glasses over my eyeballs.
- foobarian 1y agoThey may not replace the current gamut of phone features. However; I question how much of current phone functionality is actually something users strongly need/want, vs. how much is pushed by big tech. It would be pretty great if a small core feature set done well in-glass turned out to be enough to kick off large scale adoption. Ultimately I think the input is probably going to be the hardest issue
- Loughla 1y agoRead and send messages. Make phone calls. Navigation and maps. Set reminders. Navigate a basic Google search, even if it's just a top level summary. Those things on glasses and I ditch my phone immediately.
- ge96 1y agoWhat would be the interface, talking? I know they have pinching and hand tracking, guess it's no different than people talking "to themselves" while wearing earbuds.
- criddell 1y ago
- SoftTalker 1y agoI don't think so. You still would have to wear glasses, which is annoying.
- cshimmin 1y agosome of us have to wear glasses anyway :/
- eloisant 1y agoThen they'll have to find a way to separate the "smart" frame from the prescription lenses, so you can change the glasses when your sight changes without having to buy smart frame each time - or the other way around, upgrade your frames without having to buy prescriptions lenses again.
- sleepyguy 1y agoLensology, you tell them the frames, and upload your prescription, and they send you the lenses to pop in. It's called reglazing, and millions of people do it all the time. Ray Ban does it for their Meta glasses, but Lensology can handle stronger prescription lenses.
- barbazoo 1y agoAnecdotally, I haven't found it possible to buy lenses for a particular frame other than when you buy both new at the same time. Good luck getting the same lenses next time the prescription changes. The frame will probably change slightly over time to make them incompatible.
- kcb 1y agoVery confused by this. As far as I know it's standard for lenses to be custom made for your frame even when you purchase them at the same time. I just sent an old pair of glasses to eyeglasses.com for new lenses. I never considered this to be a big deal.
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- pizzathyme 1y agoI 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
- ghostpepper 1y ago> I think that they've done it, this is Meta's iPod I would love to try these types of devices but there is no way I'd ever give money to Meta or put my personal information into their systems or encourage my friends and family to do so either. Hopefully Meta puts in a bunch of R&D to see what works in this space and then someone else (Apple?) just copies it.
- bredren 1y agoMe too, I’d never trust that company with anything personal. It is bad enough that they can track health meta via in quest. Meta running the show is a non-starter.
- 1shooner 1y agoDo you encounter people that would rather you not point a Meta camera at them as a condition of interacting with you? Or is it more task-specific?
- dustbunny 1y agoI'm interested in hearing more use cases! Anyone else got one?
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- Janicc 1y agoI believe it's going to replace smartphones like smartphones replaced computers or more specifically laptops.
- wslh 1y agoI don't think "replaced" is the right word, just like with smart glasses. The form factor and user experience are key attributes when choosing a device, independent of raw hardware power. It's likely we'll continue to live with multiple device types coexisting. BTW, I have to consciously turn off my cybersecurity mindset when thinking about smart glasses. It's hard not to see all the new attack vectors they introduce.
- kepano 1y agoIn what way did smartphones replace laptops?
- shortrounddev2 1y agoLots of people don't own laptops or desktops. They do all computing through a smartphone.
- acuozzo 1y agoOP is trying to say it'll only be a partial replacement.
- epgui 1y agoThat's exactly the point.
- TiredOfLife 1y agoOrdinary people do everything on smartphones nowadays.
- racl101 1y agoYeah I can see that. Teenagers are in specially adroit at doing most computer related work from their phone. My niece owns a new Macbook and barely cracks it open. Prefers to do most things on the iPhone and actually manages it. Me, (old millennial) can not even conceive getting any real work done just on the smartphone. But I'm a power user. I need to log onto linux servers and administer them. Or I need to crack open Excel files and use spreadsheets. Not an ordinary user.
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- amazingamazing 1y agoI 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.
- sleepyguy 1y agoThe glasses need to be connected to your smartphone, and then you ask. Hey Meta, read the text on this label and tell me what it says. Hey Meta, do you see the keys on the counter? Hey Meta, can you tell me what is in front of me? It projects the sound into your ear.
- sampo 1y ago> I don't understand how she's using Meta glasses to read print. The glasses have a camera, and small speakers near your ears. They also have a microphone, so you can give them voice commands. Like Amazon Alexa, but in the glasses.
- Dfiesl 1y agoYeah the glasses will be dictating the text. For identifying objects the cameras in the glasses will be substitutes for her failing eyesight, no GPS or prescription needed. A phone you have to hold in your hand whereas glasses you don't. Therefore glasses are superior for these use cases.
- amazingamazing 1y agoSeems scary. If you’re using it to read some prescription and it says the wrong thing then game over I guess - or if internet goes out. I’m very curious what this person did before these glasses were released.
- deadbabe 1y agoI 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.
- TheGRS 1y agoI haven't seen a lot of progress on it, but I would definitely jump on whatever device lets me not have this chunky block in my pocket all the time. The concept I saw years ago was like a slap bracelet that you could remove from your wrist and unwrap into a tablet form-factor.
- leptons 1y agoIf 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.
- xylo 1y agoMake sense why Meta invested in Scale AI.
- layer8 1y agoI 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.
- jazzyjackson 1y agoThey come with a charger case that’s pretty pocketable. I had some with transition lenses so they weren’t full time sunglasses I returned them cause I didn’t like forcing a camera into everyone’s face unannounced and the photos it took weren’t very good (vertical pics cutoff most stuff in my field of view, weird choice of focal length. Maybe with two cameras they could have a wide angle and a telephoto but the ray bans at least just had the one.
- tw04 1y agoAnd 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.
- cortesoft 1y agoBrain interface
- terminatornet 1y agoGonna assume you're not in the US. Here it seems to be encouraged to watch TikToks at full volume on the bus at 6 in the morning.
- paulcole 1y ago1. Ever is a long time. 2. How confident would you have been about predicting the smartphone’s effects on society today back in say 1995?
- mrweasel 1y agoEven 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.
- racl101 1y agoThat'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.
- hn_throwaway_99 1y ago> 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.
- erikig 1y agoI'm optimistic and I can only hope that the limits of what one can wear on the face for longer time periods will create a consequent limit to the distracting features that can be packed into a daily-use device.
- redeeman 1y agoyou are very largely able to control what you do on your phone yourself
- hn_throwaway_99 1y agoSure, I'm not blaming anyone else. But some of the smartest, most highly paid people in the world have as their sole job looking at data and feedback loops to build more successful ways to highjack your attention. It's sort of like blaming the obesity epidemic on lack of willpower. Yes, any individual is responsible for himself. At the same time, companies have found better and more ingenious ways to addict lots of us using food. When I look back at pictures from the 1950s and see that nearly everyone is skinny/normal weight, am I just supposed to think that they had so much more willpower than today's people?
- mdhb 1y agoI’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.