Are smartglasses with cameras always doomed to fail? For a short time, the Ray-Ban Meta looked like they may escape the curse, but not anymore.
A recent report shows some still can’t be trusted not to abuse the technology, and it recalls many of the reasons the original pair of hyped-up, camera-equipped smartglasses were quickly demonized, and forever relegated to the place where cool tech goes to die: the B2B market.
Will the same thing happen to Ray-Ban Meta and all its competitors?
Stop being creepy
Seriously. Stop
Creepy individuals have been secretly filming women in public, and then uploading the video to social media platforms, where they gain significant attention, according to more than one BBC investigation.
Several women came forward to speak about how men wearing smartglasses recorded conversations with them in secret, only to discover the videos were then being shared online.
The conversations were apparently recorded by “pick-up artists,” and caused considerable distress and embarrassment to the women, and in at least one case, also revealed private information which led to further harassment.
Being filmed without permission isn’t necessarily against the law in some regions, according to a lawyer speaking to the BBC, and social media platforms didn’t always remove the videos upon request either.
It leaves the women recorded in this way feeling exploited, and without any recourse against the person recording the video, or the platforms where it was shared.
Smartglasses in the middle
Are they the problem?
Unfortunately, the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses were used by the men to record the women. Meta’s smartglasses have a single 12-megapixel camera in the arm, facing forward, which can record three-minute video clips or take still images.
Meta understood privacy would be a concern, and as standard there is a glowing LED around the camera lens when it’s recording, letting people know it’s working. If the lens is covered, the camera will not record, adding another level of protection against covert recording.
However, not only does someone have to notice the LED and be aware of what it means, but there are ways to cover it up and not affect performance.
The Ray-Ban Meta are not the only smartglasses with a camera, but they are the most normal-looking, come with a choice of normal or sunglasses lenses, and are relatively affordable at $300.
The past returns to haunt us
It’s Google Glass, but worse
Google released Google Glass in 2012, and one of its selling points was the camera in the frame.
Google even used it to promote Glass during a Google I/O event, where skydivers live-streamed their jump and eventual arrival in the event space using Glass.
Glass became a privacy nightmare, and it caused outrage for years after its release. Variety wrote about it:
Glass is a new form of digital narcissism that drags in unknowing bystanders. It shrinks the private sphere and makes the public realm even more public.
Time, rather portentously, wrote:
The real concern with Google Glass and privacy doesn’t have to do with surveillance or collection of personal data, but with the way it will make us behave in the real world.
Smartglasses have made a comeback
With the same old problems
Glass had a profound negative impact on wearable tech.
It helped launch a (short-lived) grassroots movement dedicated to protecting privacy in the future called Stop the Cyborgs. It caused law publications to seriously examine how it would affect privacy, while wearers faced physical attacks and even accusations of trying to pirate a movie in the theater.
With wearers demonized and a design that split opinions, Glass was quickly discontinued by Google, at least for consumers. The product lives on in the enterprise space, where it’s used only for business purposes.
It took more than a decade before smartglasses made a true return, after manufacturers briefly experimented with audio-focused models to soften the blow, with Meta bravely giving the public the Ray-Ban Stories in 2021, the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 in 2023, and the Meta Ray-Ban Display in 2025.
Unfortunately, we seem to have come full circle with justified privacy concerns, although it has taken a little while.
History may repeat itself
Can it be stopped?
Smartglasses with a camera will always face the problem that, unlike recording someone with a smartphone, the act is often covert rather than overt. This has only got worse as technology has advanced.
It was obvious someone was wearing Google Glass, due to its odd looks, and the large camera lens and enclosure really couldn’t be missed.
Ray-Ban Meta glasses are far more incognito, and designs are only likely to get more normal-looking over the coming year, making it harder to spot a pair of smartglasses in the moment.
Regardless of protections added by manufacturers, and the publication of guidelines on how not to be creepy when wearing them, the only way to truly avoid the cameras being used to potentially invade someone’s privacy is not to add a camera at all.
Unfortunately, with AI expected to be an even more important feature on smartglasses in the future, a camera is likely to be included on many future pairs.
A societal issue
Less about the tech, more about the people
Has society moved past the outrage caused by Glass? If it has, the problem we face is less about the hardware, and more about the people using it.
Some may have accepted there’s always a chance they’re being photographed or recorded, either by the authorities or an individual today.
Recording unfolding public situations and sharing them on social media has become commonplace. Livestreaming is so popular, entire platforms have evolved around it.
While the public is generally far more aware of cameras in public now than in 2012, the ease with which video can be shared is far greater, the messages attached to the videos are potentially more damaging, and the number of people who may see them has grown exponentially since then.
The camera on the Ray-Ban Meta, when used responsibly, is a lot of fun, and can be used to record in a way that’s impossible using a smartphone.
Meta, and other companies, need to find ways of ensuring the camera and its status is obvious to others, and to reduce the chances of it being abused.
If they don’t, there’s a risk smartglasses will stall once more, as people and real-world problems are forgotten in tech brands’ haste to nail the next big thing in mobile.
- Sunglasses?
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Yes
- Brand
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Ray-Ban
- Speakers
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Open-Air
- Weight
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1.7oz
- Dimensions
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Lens height: 46 mm, Frame width: 146 mm
- Connectivity
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Bluetooth 5.3, WI-Fi 6E
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have a 12MP Ultra-wide camera above the left lens that offers 4032×3024 resolution and can record photos or videos up to 60 seconds in length. It can also live stream to either the FaceBook or Instagram apps. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, available in various styles and colors and with prescription lenses, are built for those who want to capture POV photos and videos and share them on social media.
