The first pair of smart glasses from Ray-Ban and Facebook will go on sale starting Thursday for $299 These glasses are called Ray-Ban Stories and can be found almost anywhere Ray-Bans are sold including LensCrafters, Sunglasses Hut, and Sunglasses Hut.
Two-front cameras are used to capture video and photos in the frames. The frames sync with Facebook View, a companion camera roll app. Clips can be edited and shared to other apps (not just Facebook's). You can either press the physical button on your glasses to record, or say Hey Facebook, take video to control them without having to use your hands.
They look and feel just like regular glasses.
Ray-Ban Stories, with their core ability to take photos and videos, are essentially a sleeker, more modern version of Snapchats Spectacles. They first launched in 2016 to a lot hype, but quickly fell off the radar. These Ray-Bans don't have displays in their lenses like the new Spectacles. The speakers on the sides of both frames can play sound over Bluetooth from your phone, so you can make a call or listen in to a podcast without having to open your phone. The frame also has a touchpad that allows you to adjust the volume, play and pause the sound.
Ray-Ban Stories is the first product of a multiyear partnership between Facebook, EssilorLuxottica (Ray-Bans parent company), and European eyewear conglomerate EssilorLuxottica. Although they are limited in their capabilities, Ray-Ban Stories is the most accessible and normal-looking pair of smart glasses that have been released. They are also a step towards more advanced augmented reality glasses, which overlay graphics onto real life.
I have been using Ray-Ban Stories for the past week and am impressed by their build quality, as well as how easy they work. The initial pairing was simple, and sync footage from the glasses to the View app took just a few seconds using a Wi-Fi connection.
Dual 5-megapixel cameras are capable of capturing approximately 500 photos or just over three dozen video clips in a 30-second time frame. If you don't want to use the Hey Facebook wake phrase, you can manually capture the frames by pressing a button at the top. Facebook claims that the voice assistant listens only to that phrase when it is turned on, and that it can only start recordings.
The inside of the glasses has a light that shows you information such as green for fully charged, orange to low battery, blue to pair mode, red for dead battery/overheating and white for a capture mistake. An additional white light is located in front of the right camera and illuminates the glasses when they are recording.
Facebook claims that the glasses can be charged in about an hour and that the battery lasts for approximately six hours with intermittent usage. When the glasses are paired, the companion View app displays a live reading of the battery. My battery was drained by around 20 percent after heavy usage for about an hour.
The case comes with the glasses and is made of sturdy leather. It also has a built-in charger that can recharge the battery three times. The box contains a USB-C cable to charge the case.
The speakers were loud and full, which surprised me as I had expected. Although I can use the Bluetooth audio playback for making phone calls and listening to podcasts, I prefer using headphones to listen to music. It is easy to hear the audio even if it isn't directly targeted at your ears. A touchpad is located on the side of your frame for volume adjustment.
The quality of the lenses is not as good as that found in modern smartphones. Ray-Ban Stories can be used when your hands are busy or when you need to capture something brief. The glasses are not designed to be wet, despite a teaser video posted by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO.
The companion View app, which is stripped down to a camera roll and basic editing capabilities for the glasses, can be used as a companion View app. You can save clips and make minor edits before you send the footage to any other app. It walks you through the privacy policies that will allow Facebook to collect information about your use of the glasses. To use them, you will need a Facebook account. However, the company doesn't analyze what you record or save in the View App to personalize ads.
Ray-Ban Stories' form factor is the most captivating part.
Ray-Ban Stories' form factor is what makes them stand out. These glasses are the most comfortable I have ever tried. They are only a few grams lighter than regular Wayfarers. They can also be ordered with prescription lenses. However, I was unable to test them because the pair Facebook sent me didn't have my prescription. Also, my contacts are not worn.
It is difficult to see the tech inside the glasses. Also, the white recording light is very dim which can pose privacy concerns for people who don't realize that the glasses capture video or photos.
Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses are very affordable. The price starts at $299. Polarized lenses are $329, while transition lenses are $379. The type of insurance you have will determine the price for adding prescriptions. There are three main styles of frames: Round, Wayfarer and Meteor. There are 20 possible combinations of styles, colors and sizes. These are being sold in shops and online in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom as well as in Italy, Ireland, Australia and Ireland.
Ray-Ban and Facebook have a unique partnership, which was established at the highest levels.
Two years ago, Luxotticas chief wearable officers, Rocco Basilico cold emailed Mark Zuckerberg to ask for a meeting and to discuss smart glasses collaboration. Zuckerberg had previously stated publicly that Facebook aspires to create AR glasses that can be as widely used as mobile phones. He showed the crowd a mockup for smart glasses in a speech at Facebook's 2017 developer conference. It looked very similar to Ray-Bans. Basilico, who was leading Luxotticas smart glasses efforts at that time, knew that Luxotticas needed to partner up with a tech company in order to make them.
It's not just a tech gadget. It's something very special.
When Zuckerberg flew to Milan to meet Leonardo Del Vecchio (Luxotticas founder, chairman), the deal was done. They agreed on the main product proposition. The hardware executives from Facebook travelled to Luxotticas sprawling research centre in northern Italy. The majority of the specs (codenamed Stella), were finalized during a weeklong workshop that brought together top executives from both companies.
These Ray-Bans, unlike its Oculus VR headset and Portal video calling devices, are not Facebook-branded products. Ray-Ban is responsible for the design and sales of the glasses while Facebook provides the software and tech. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed by either company.
Ray-Ban Stories' goal is to prepare consumers for the many future products we have in this space. Andrew Bosworth (Facebook vice president for augmented and virtual reality), explained to me. This is all part of Facebook's plan to create what it believes will be the next major computing platform, after mobile phones. Over 10,000 employees are involved in the production of consumer hardware. This includes a smartwatch that will help control its eventual AR glasses. These glasses are internally codenamed Orion.
According to Basilico, Luxottica's goal was to make smart glasses more than a technology gadget. The design was simple, then we modified the technology.
Luxottica's decision to partner with Facebook may also be offensive in order to take advantage of the smart glasses boom. Snap started offering its first version of Spectacles equipped with AR displays to a few developers and partners in the spring. Apple is still working on AR glasses for its own devices, but this will be a long time before it becomes reality. Google purchased North AR glasses startup in June last year. This was a signal of its desire to re-enter the consumer market following the failure of Google Glass nearly ten years ago.
According to Christopher Grayson (an AR and smart glasses analyst) who has studied the luxury eyewear market closely, Luxottica will not be left behind if AR glasses become as ubiquitous as mobile phone use. Uber will not be the taxicab industry.
Facebook also discovered a way to use Snapchat's camera-equipped smart glasses as a copy by doing it. While Bosworth and Basilico did not mention Spectacles in their conversations, it was clear that they believe Ray-Ban Stories will be more appealing to everyone than Spectacles. They are probably correct.
You're going to see people use the device in unexpected ways
Although similar products have been on the market before, they are not as accessible and feature all of the features such as the hands-free assistant or the audio. According to those involved, although Snap approached Luxottica for a partnership in the early days Spectacles, the talks never took place.
Facebook provided me with a list of advocacy organizations it had consulted on privacy issues during the development process of the glasses. These included the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and the LGBT Technology Partnership. People I spoke to said that Facebook valued their input and they are happy with the product's design. Some people agreed that the recording light should have more prominence.
Regardless of how well designed the glasses may be, there will likely be resistance from some to wearing microphones and cameras made by Facebook. I don't think that the stigma of Ray-Ban Stories will be a significant deterrent, considering how Facebooks logo is not even on the glasses.
Smart glasses have many wider implications. They could be adopted by many people and have a chilling impact on how comfortable others feel in public places. Or they could become a tool to stalking. Jeremy Greenberg counsel for Future of Privacy Forum told me. You will see people using this device in unexpected ways.
Facebook is operating with a trust deficit and hopes products such as Ray-Ban Stories will avoid past mishaps. It also wants to show its privacy commitments. Bosworth said that it is crucial to get products on the market that open up dialogue with consumers about wearable glasses. It is important to do this in advance of what's to come.
