4 ms·

Here's the deal, you don't need any of this. I have Rayban Metas and the hardware is great...but the software borders on being unhelpful. If they merely served

by cco 1y ago

Here's the deal, you don't need any of this. I have Rayban Metas and the hardware is great...but the software borders on being unhelpful. If they merely served a dumb camera and bluetooth headset to my phone they'd be an unbelievably good product. Meta won't do this because they want to capture _everything_ going on, but I don't want to chat with Meta's AI, it is very bad, I want to chat with Gemini or ChatGPT and I can do so with their glasses but I must initiate that on my phone (Meta won't give you wakewords for OpenAI/Google of course). So my suggestion here would be don't? There is no need for an app store or anything like that, just the thinest software layer you need to make the sunglass hardware work as a dumb bluetooth headset and remote camera for the user's phone.

bighead1 1y ago
This comment reminds me of a simple `esp32` project I saw recently that lets you send your LLM requests via SMS. It basically offloads everything. Particularly useful when you don't have a decent data connection, but can still send SMS. edit: found it https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/1n7r3vl/a_textbot_for_internet_over_sms/ https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/1n7r3vl/a_textbot_...
jasonsb 1y ago
I was about to make the exact same comment. But then I remembered that there are billions of people who buy products advertised on Facebook and TikTok because it's "cool" and "fun". So what do I know about the future of smart glasses OS? Probably nothing.
verdverm 1y ago
META wants to be the Android of smart glasses because they know it will be the next dominate form factor when we have desirable devices (also why they are starting with less hardware but a form factor people feel comfortable wearing in public) Android XR is coming out with Moohan next month, if Visor ever comes out, it is believed that will eventually by on AXR. Apple still seems hobbled since Jobs left
- vorpalhex 1y ago
  It is hard for me to swallow the promise of smart glasses and I was dev-ing for the original Google glass. It's awkward, battery life is a pittance, the display can be useful but only in select cases. Controls are always an issue. LLMs won't actually fix that - voice control is not the answer.
  - cco 1y ago
    Disagree with you there having used Rayban Metas for about six months. Always-on access to an LLM via voice is a useful and novel way of interacting with computers. From trivial things like asking it about a landmark I'm seeing or when I'm driving to tell me about some historical event (almost like an on tap podcast), to slightly more useful things like asking it to add stuff to my calendar/reminders when I'm biking home. It certainly isn't a replacement for a more robust interface, but it is a very nice way of using a computer while I'm out and about and don't want to pull out my phone.
    - stavros 1y ago
      I would agree if I could use ChatGPT's advanced voice mode with them. It's purely a software/lock-in issue that I can't, but it means that I never wear my glasses, vs wearing them all the time. They're so unobtrusive for chatting, that it would be amazing if we could get a capable LLM on the other side. Too bad we can't because corporations like walled gardens.
      - walterbell 1y ago
        OpenAI walled garden should have Jony Ive's upcoming $6B hardware device for voice chat.
- mycall 1y ago
  Except people don't want to wear shades indoors, or if their eyes are find, glasses either. That is its Achilles heel.
caydenpiercehax 1y ago
That sounds nice but there's problems in reality. How do the glasses serve as a "dumb camera to your phone"? What protocol do they use to do this? It doesn't exist. It's something that must be solved at the OS layer. What if you want to use multiple apps? Are you going to spend 2 minutes each time disconnecting Bluetooth from one phone app, connecting to another, and then using it? No, you need to runtime that lets multiple apps access the sensors as needed. Do you want to make an app that accesses the microphone? If you want to have translation app running at the same time that you're taking notes, then again you need some way to allow multiple apps to run at once. MentraOS solves those problems.
- numpad0 1y ago
  (obex or opp or ftp, if you don't care about live previews. Nokia S60 could just do it, so could Windows Mobile 6.x and under. iOS/most Android, nope)
- hnlmorg 1y ago
  > How do the glasses serve as a "dumb camera to your phone"? What protocol do they use to do this? It doesn't exist. It's something that must be solved at the OS layer. USB webcams have been a thing for years ;) I have a pair of Xreal glasses and, while they don’t have a camera, they do have the other components. They are entirely dumb. You plug the USB cable into your phone/laptop/portable gaming device and that’s literally it. The cable runs discreetly from the back of the ear and has the additional benefit that you don’t need a heavy battery built into the frame of the glasses. So you definitely can have a XR glasses that are “dumb”.
  - numpad0 1y ago
    XREAL is DisplayPort Alt Mode + USB for gyros. It's also wired only. DP needs 10-40Gbps of bandwidth, doesn't work wireless. USB cameras also aren't natively supported on iOS/Android. You need apps. With apps comes lock-in opportunities which are never not tapped. So "just use USB" doesn't make technical sense at all.
    - 1y ago

by cco 1y ago

bighead1 1y ago

This comment reminds me of a simple `esp32` project I saw recently that lets you send your LLM requests via SMS. It basically offloads everything. Particularly useful when you don't have a decent data connection, but can still send SMS. edit: found it https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/1n7r3vl/a_textbot_for_internet_over_sms/ https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/1n7r3vl/a_textbot_...

jasonsb 1y ago

I was about to make the exact same comment. But then I remembered that there are billions of people who buy products advertised on Facebook and TikTok because it's "cool" and "fun". So what do I know about the future of smart glasses OS? Probably nothing.

verdverm 1y ago

META wants to be the Android of smart glasses because they know it will be the next dominate form factor when we have desirable devices (also why they are starting with less hardware but a form factor people feel comfortable wearing in public) Android XR is coming out with Moohan next month, if Visor ever comes out, it is believed that will eventually by on AXR. Apple still seems hobbled since Jobs left

vorpalhex 1y ago
It is hard for me to swallow the promise of smart glasses and I was dev-ing for the original Google glass. It's awkward, battery life is a pittance, the display can be useful but only in select cases. Controls are always an issue. LLMs won't actually fix that - voice control is not the answer.
- cco 1y ago
  Disagree with you there having used Rayban Metas for about six months. Always-on access to an LLM via voice is a useful and novel way of interacting with computers. From trivial things like asking it about a landmark I'm seeing or when I'm driving to tell me about some historical event (almost like an on tap podcast), to slightly more useful things like asking it to add stuff to my calendar/reminders when I'm biking home. It certainly isn't a replacement for a more robust interface, but it is a very nice way of using a computer while I'm out and about and don't want to pull out my phone.
  - stavros 1y ago
    I would agree if I could use ChatGPT's advanced voice mode with them. It's purely a software/lock-in issue that I can't, but it means that I never wear my glasses, vs wearing them all the time. They're so unobtrusive for chatting, that it would be amazing if we could get a capable LLM on the other side. Too bad we can't because corporations like walled gardens.
    - walterbell 1y ago
      OpenAI walled garden should have Jony Ive's upcoming $6B hardware device for voice chat.
mycall 1y ago
Except people don't want to wear shades indoors, or if their eyes are find, glasses either. That is its Achilles heel.

caydenpiercehax 1y ago

That sounds nice but there's problems in reality. How do the glasses serve as a "dumb camera to your phone"? What protocol do they use to do this? It doesn't exist. It's something that must be solved at the OS layer. What if you want to use multiple apps? Are you going to spend 2 minutes each time disconnecting Bluetooth from one phone app, connecting to another, and then using it? No, you need to runtime that lets multiple apps access the sensors as needed. Do you want to make an app that accesses the microphone? If you want to have translation app running at the same time that you're taking notes, then again you need some way to allow multiple apps to run at once. MentraOS solves those problems.

numpad0 1y ago
(obex or opp or ftp, if you don't care about live previews. Nokia S60 could just do it, so could Windows Mobile 6.x and under. iOS/most Android, nope)
hnlmorg 1y ago
> How do the glasses serve as a "dumb camera to your phone"? What protocol do they use to do this? It doesn't exist. It's something that must be solved at the OS layer. USB webcams have been a thing for years ;) I have a pair of Xreal glasses and, while they don’t have a camera, they do have the other components. They are entirely dumb. You plug the USB cable into your phone/laptop/portable gaming device and that’s literally it. The cable runs discreetly from the back of the ear and has the additional benefit that you don’t need a heavy battery built into the frame of the glasses. So you definitely can have a XR glasses that are “dumb”.
- numpad0 1y ago
  XREAL is DisplayPort Alt Mode + USB for gyros. It's also wired only. DP needs 10-40Gbps of bandwidth, doesn't work wireless. USB cameras also aren't natively supported on iOS/Android. You need apps. With apps comes lock-in opportunities which are never not tapped. So "just use USB" doesn't make technical sense at all.
  - 1y ago