Ray-Ban Stories, the smart glasses being debuted by Facebook and Ray-Ban today, are most notable for just how much they look like a standard pair of the brand’s sunglasses. This is a major launch for Facebook, which announced early details about the Ray-Ban partnership and product at its AR/VR-focused developer conference last September. The company has indicated that the device is a stepping stone for its AR ambitions and an effort to get users acquainted with the idea of high-tech glasses. The glasses notably do not have in-lens displays that will allow users to see digital augmented reality content like competitor Snap’s latest Spectacles prototype.
This has been in response to Facebook’s move-fast-and-break-things mantra, its questionable data-collection practices, and its cascade of somewhat impotent privacy settings. Earlier this year, I wrote an ethics paper with Catherine Flick of De Montfort University in the UK, which was published in the May 2021 Journal of Responsible Technology. We argued that the unbridled deployment of “smart glasses” raises serious unforeseen questions about the future of public social interaction. Facebook notes that the glasses don’t do anything you can’t do with your smartphone and points to the ways the products let bystanders know they’re different. The best, aesthetically-pleasing eyewear for your patients is now the best choice for very high prescriptions to produce the thinnest lenses possible. By end of year 2021, Ray-Ban Authentic Essilor Special Edition will be available in 2.5X more colors and 27 different shades to choose from in Rx.
But Facebook and Ray-Ban may not fully appreciate the enormous challenge that remains in convincing people to buy and use such a wearable device, particularly when its capabilities seem more neat than essential. Hind Hobeika, a product manager for augmented-reality devices at Facebook Reality Labs, told me Ray-Ban Stories are “the first smart glasses that people will want to wear.” I took the glasses for a spin on a nine-mile bike ride in Yosemite National Park where I found them useful for snapping pictures. Riding through the valley, there were moments where the trees would open up and reveal incredible views of the granite cliffs. Without the glasses, trying to shoot photos or videos of the views with my phone would have required that I ride dangerously while pulling out my phone, or that I slow down my entire group and stop to take pics. The Ray-Ban Stories made it possible to capture the views while continuing to ride and looking up at the cliffs.
And “Stories” because, you know, Instagram stories and Facebook stories and also Snapchat “story,” lol. And after days of trying them out, I still didn’t have the sense that I needs Ray-Ban Stories. But it’s going to be tough for Facebook to convince most people that they have to have a gadget ray ban caravan that can replicate a few of their phone’s features while sitting on their face — even one that looks this good. I spoke with Jeremy Greenberg, policy counsel at the Future of Privacy Forum and one of the people Facebook spoke with while developing Ray-Ban Stories, about my experience.
The pictures aren’t as good as what you’d get from a smartphone while the speakers don’t match what you’d expect from a set of AirPods. If you’re someone who needs audio quality to be top-notch, you’ll be bothered by how poor the Ray-Ban Stories sound. And although the speakers aren’t very loud for the user, they’re loud enough that others around you will be able to hear what you’re listening to, whether it’s a private phone call or your most embarrassing Spotify playlist.
The Ray-Ban Stories are a fine first attempt at smart glasses by Facebook. It’s great that the company teamed up with a brand people will actually want to wear. Facebook’s glasses look fashionable, not dorky, and aren’t obviously equipped with technology. That’s a big achievement for pair of smart glasses sold by a tech company.
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You’ll also be able to get them with prescription lenses (although my ability to test the glasses was limited since the pair Facebook sent me to try didn’t have my prescription and I don’t wear contacts). The cameras in the glasses are nowhere as high quality as the cameras on modern smartphones. Instead, Ray-Ban Stories are meant to be used in moments when your hands are occupied, or you want to capture something fleeting. Despite a teaser video recently posted by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showing him out in the ocean with them on, the glasses aren’t designed to get wet. After testing out the Ray-Ban Stories for a few days, I found them far more compelling than any smart glasses today.