Facebook and Ray-Ban officially launch smart glasses

Facebook is taking its first stab at smart glasses through its partnership with Ray-Ban. The Ray-Ban Stories are glasses that bring the eyewear's classic Wayfarer designs and adds cameras, a microphone, and speakers to them. Each side hides a camera capable of shooting five-megapixel stills and videos of up to 30 seconds that you can trigger with a long or short tap on its single button. The camera setup is similar to Snap's Spectacles, but Ray-Ban Stories take this further with open-ear speakers and a three-mic audio array, which will let you control the glasses by voice.

This product is, first and foremost, a Ray-Ban device. According to Andrew Bosworth, Facebook Reality Labs' head, the glasses are designed to "help people live in the moment and stay connected to the people they are with and the people they wish they were with."

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Facebook and Ray-Ban glasses leaked ahead of launch

Facebook is getting ready to launch the smart glasses it's created with Ray-Ban. Ahead of the launch, though, Evan Blass has revealed what the glasses would look like, and yes, they do look a bit like Snap's glasses. But that is the shape of typical Ray-Ban glasses. There will be three frame styles to choose from: Wayfarer, Round, and Meteor. It will reportedly come with a protective hard case, bag, and charging cable. 

Now, we just have to find out what features Facebook plans to include with these glasses. And it's a different conversation whether you'd want to use Facebook hardware. 

Source: The Next Web

Report claims Facebook partners with Ray-Ban to develop smart glasses

Engadget

Where its competition has failed, Facebook is trying its luck. The social media company has reportedly partnered with Luxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban, to help with the development of its augmented reality glasses.  CNBC reported that the smart specs have been in development for years over at the Facebook Reality Labs in Redmond, Washington. But project Orion, as it's called, has faced a bunch of roadblocks. One of the problems is fitting the hardware into a device consumers would want to wear. And that is where Luxottica can help them.

Just like other AR glasses, these glasses will serve as an alternative to constantly checking on your mobile phone. It shows information like notifications and text messages on a small display in the lens. It could work with the voice assistant Facebook is developing. And it might be safe to assume Facebook would integrate some key features to access its site easily through these glasses. The earliest these glasses could hit consumers would be 2023. As for whether you would want one is an entirely different discussion altogether.

Source: Gizmodo