The backlash has spoken. Meta reportedly is developing smart glasses without cameras amid a general anxiety about the wearable technology’s potential for privacy violations and following incidents of people using what have been dubbed “pervert glasses” to record videos of women without their permission or knowledge. According to reporting from The Information, Meta wants to
The backlash has spoken. Meta reportedly is developing smart glasses without cameras amid a general anxiety about the wearable technology’s potential for privacy violations and following incidents of people using what have been dubbed “pervert glasses” to record videos of women without their permission or knowledge.
According to reporting from The Information, Meta wants to begin selling the new glasses — called Luna — in October and could introduce the new devices at its Connect developer conference next week. Meta Connect is scheduled for Sept. 23-24 and will be livestreamed.
The Information said Luna will have two styles, Clubmaster and Burbank. The smart glasses will have six microphones, along with speakers directed at the user’s ears. Wearers can speak to and listen to the Meta AI chatbot by pressing a button on the side of the glasses, The Information reported.
A representative for Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more: Smart Glasses Are Putting Cameras on People’s Faces. Here’s How to Spot Them
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have gained an unfortunate reputation. News reports have cited men using the device’s cameras to record women — for instance asking to go out on a date while secretly recording the encounter — and then posting the videos on social media. The smart glasses have also been used to film pranks and harassment interactions.
One woman told CNN she had a conversation with a man at an airport and later discovered that he had posted several videos on social media of interactions he had with other women. Despite being asked by the woman at the airport not to post their conversation online, he did it anyway.
Read more: Meta Explained Its Smart Glasses AI Privacy Policies to Me. I’m Still Worried
Although there is a small LED light that turns on and blinks during recording, some people have removed the light or found ways to camouflage the LED so that people would not know they were being recorded. Meta rolled out a software update in late July that would deactivate the camera if the LED light was tampered with in any way.
But as CNET’s Scott Stein writes, it is difficult to spot the white LED light in bright daylight, and the Meta glasses look almost identical to the non-smart Ray-Ban glasses that have been around for decades. Stein also reported in June that Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth had indicated the company’s interest in releasing a less-expensive, camera-free version of its smart glasses that would focus on audio capabilities.
Austin Evans, a YouTube tech reviewer with nearly 6 million subscribers, said he rarely wears the Meta Ray-Bans anymore because of the bad vibes associated with them. He said he’s talked with folks at Meta about why glasses without cameras would be a good idea.
“It’s pretty simple technically, I would assume,” Evans told CNET. “It probably would allow them to slim the glasses down a bit. But most importantly it will be a really strong step toward removing the stigma around wearing them.”
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