Tag: Facebook Ray-ban

Facebook Launches ‘Ray-Ban Stories’ Smart Glasses That Can Capture Photos & Videos

After establishing itself as one of the most popular social media services and ruling the social media world by acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook started venturing out for more. And now, the California headquartered company has entered into a world of smart glasses by collaborating with one of the best glass wear companies, Ray-Ban.

The Facebook sunglasses are designed on the iconic Ray-Ban Wayfarer design that first appeared in the late ’80s. The company has named its debut smart glasses as Ray-Ban stories, and these smart glasses are paired with cameras to shoot photos and up to 30 seconds of videos. The sunglasses feature two 5MP cameras, built-in speakers, a touchpad on the temple, three microphones, and a charging case.

The company has taken the necessary precautions to avoid the misuse of smart glasses. The 5MP cameras at the right corner of the eyewear have an LED light to indicate that you are recording someone. Also, you can only record videos for up to 30 seconds which means the smart gadget is made only for the Facebook Stories feature.

One can turn on the camera by pushing the side-framed button, but the images captured by the smart glasses are not high-quality images like those you click on smartphone cameras. The company has developed a dedicated app Facebook View to see photos before you upload them anywhere. The smart glasses have built-in storage for 500+ pictures and around 30 videos.

Facebook is not the first to come up with built-in camera sunglasses; Google and Snapchat have already done that. The Facebook Ray-Ban sunglasses aren’t equipped with AR features, but it comes with many other day-to-day features like taking phone calls and listening to podcasts or music. The company uses beamforming technology for calls, which ensures an “enhanced calling experience” like headphones.

On the other hand, Apple is working on AR and VR based headsets, which may even come in the form of smart glasses, but that’s not on a card right now. The smart sunglasses made by Facebook will appear in classic Ray-Ban styles like Wayfarer, Meteor and Round. The Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses are priced at $299 (roughly ₹22,000) and are available for sale in limited countries.

Facebook’s Smart Glass – Another Giant Step

A few days back, we talked about Facebook working upon the virtual reality tool ‘Metaverse.’ But now Facebook is ready to take another giant step. As per the current news, Facebook is going to bring a smart glass in collaboration with Ray-Ban. For many tech geeks, this will be something really amazing. Let’s know more about this news on Facebook’s new smart glasses that they will launch soon with this Exhibit blog. 

Zuckerberg On Fire

We always say that when a batsman is hitting some beautiful shots constantly, we say that the batsman is on fire. But, for now, we have to say this for Mark Zuckerberg. The way Zuckerberg is moving is commendable in every aspect. Zuckerberg has announced on Wednesday that they are coming up with a Ray-ban smart glass. For this purpose, Facebook will partner with EssilorLuxottica. However, Zuckerberg has not announced any timeline by when it will release this new product in the market. Facebook has also clearly stated that this smart glass cannot be part of classification under augmented reality. Apart from this, this smart glass may be somewhere between Snapchat’s Spectacles and Amazon’s Echo Frames.

Facebook’s Smart Glass

Facebook’s R&D line is running with a full-fledged series of developments in current times. This smart glass will be part of Facebook Reality Labs’ project. This project will help grab data that will further get used in Facebook’s Aria plan, in which they are thinking of developing their AR smart glasses. This AR smart glass, as per Facebook, is currently in the testing phase. 

Smart Glass’s Working Principle

Whatever you see in smart glasses is due to the transmission of light. This transmission of light happens because of the change in voltage, light, or heat when applied. Hence, the glass part changes its character from being transparent to translucent. Smart glass technology allows a wide range of light, including both IR and UV. Smart glasses are categorized under two core categories – active and passive, depending upon the flow of electric charges through them. Both passive and active smart glasses have different functionality depending on this segregation.

Conclusion

Facebook might have found inspiration from WI Cricketer Dwayne Bravo’s ‘Champion.’ As a technology champion, Facebook is partnering with technology like VR and AR. Smart glasses have, as of now, very few stakeholders who are building products in this domain. With Facebook coming into it, it will bolster and give a bigger push on this front.

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