Ray Ban recently launched a new pair of Ray Ban glasses by Facebook called Ray Ban Stories, starting at $299, Stories are a pair of eyeglasses with a built-in camera, speaker, and microphone, designed to let users take photos and video hands-free.
The glasses are built in partnership with Facebook and the eyewear company EssilorLuxottica. They resemble a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers, and they don’t have a display or an internet connection, instead, they connect wirelessly to the user’s phone.
The front of the glasses have 2 x 5 megapixel cameras built-in. You can activate the cameras by a push of the capture button on the side of the frame. A tap starts recording a video or you can press and hold it to take a photo.
They also have the facebook assistant built in to them so you can also ask the facebook assistant to start recording a video if you want a hands-free experience.
The ray ban stories smart glasses have built-in microphones and open-ear speakers so you can take phone calls and listen to music on the go.
You can take up to 30 videos and 500 photos and they are kept encrypted on your glasses until you download or share them using the Facebook view app.
There’s an LED light on the front of the glasses that lights up when you’re taking a photo or a video. This lets people around you know that the camera is on. The glasses also have a power switch on them enabling you to turn the camera and microphone off if you’re in a private space.
Ray-Ban Stories lets you live in the moment. The glasses are comfortable and lightweight. Ray-Ban says the glasses are still recognizable as the style Wayfarer remains. The difference in weight is only around 5 grams.
There are over 20 Ray Ban styles variations to choose from. 3 iconic Ray-Ban frame styles, 4 colors and 6 types of lenses. Lens can also be made with your own prescriptions.
The glasses come with a charging case which has a little connector on the side so you can charge them. The battery lasts around 6 hours depending on how much you use the glasses.
The glasses are available today, on the Ray-Ban website and selected Ray-Ban stores. For now, the glasses are only available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Italy and Australia. With more locations coming soon.
When first using the View app to view your photos and videos, a valid Facebook account is required and only one can be used, a potential problem for anyone that doesn’t have or doesn’t want a Facebook account. As for the user’s privacy Facebook claims all images taken using Stories are encrypted and won’t be used to personalize content such as ads.
Facebook does collect some data such as the number of videos and photos you store, but if you have a problem with that, you can turn it off.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook says “With Ray-Ban Stories you can stay focused on what you’re doing and you don’t have to choose between being on your device or being fully present. We believe that this is an important step on the road to developing the ultimate augmented reality glasses.”
There’s a lot of technology that still needs to be developed and miniaturized to make the AR glasses we envision come to life. Things such as holograms, turn-by-turn directions or being able to play chess on a table in front of you with a loved one who’s far away. “With future AR glasses you’re gonna be able to share even more experiences together.”
Ray-Ban stories bear a slight resemblance to Facebook rival Snap’s Spectacles. Snap launched Spectacles in 2014 with basic built-in cameras, but since then they have expanded and become a lot better, with this year’s version featuring AR screens, more cameras, microphones and speakers.
Sadly, Snap only gives Spectacles to select creators and AR developers, while Facebook is selling Stories to the public.