That’s me, virtually trying on Meta’s glasses on their website, doing my best Tom Cruise Risky Business impersonation. Spoiler, I didn’t buy them.
These remind me of Google Glass. Those awkward $1,500 face computers from 2013 that made you look like a cyborg at brunch. They launched with a ton of hype and died just as fast.
Between the terrible battery life and the privacy panic, “Glasshole” became a real word. Here we are over a decade later, and smart glasses are back big-time.
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses start at $299 and have already sold over 2 million pairs. They look like regular sunglasses but take hands-free photos, livestream video, play music and even answer questions through Meta AI whispered in your ear.
Battery life is four to six hours, and they charge inside a little sunglasses case. Everything syncs to the Meta View app, where your content is stored in the cloud.
Here’s the thing: The glasses are always listening, and they can start recording with just a tap. Meta added a tiny LED that lights up when filming, but really, who notices that at a Starbucks or party?
Privacy aside, Meta’s serious about this space. They own a $3.5 billion stake in EssilorLuxottica, the massive eyewear company behind Ray-Ban, Oakley and pretty much every brand you’ve ever tried on at the mall.
👓 Halo X is coming soon
Halo X is the chilling nerdy challenger, made by startup Brilliant Labs. It projects AI-generated responses right onto the lens. You can ask it to translate a sign, identify a flower or even help remember the name of someone you met at a bar two Friday nights ago.
Seriously, it records everything. Video, audio, all of it gets uploaded to the cloud. No local storage. No off switch. That’s helpful … or horrifying, depending on how you feel about privacy.
Battery life is short, two or three hours. When it ships in a few months, the glasses will cost $350 to $400.
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