Facebook has partnered with Ray-ban to unveil Stories, a pair of connected glasses, equipped with two cameras, speakers and a microphone. Thanks to its integrated assistant, this mount allows you to take photos and videos by voice, but also to make calls or listen to music.
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While Apple and Samsung still haven’t released smart glasses, Facebook has decided to embark on this adventure with the help of Ray-ban, property of the eyewear company EssilorLuxottica. Announced a year ago, this pair takes the look of the legendary Wayfarer and, for 300 dollars, we can afford connected glasses with a more versatile and modern design than the competing attempts like those of Google or from Snap Spectacles. Its name: Stories.
At this price, equivalent to that of a very good connected watch, we have glasses equipped with two cameras, three microphones and speakers. There is no screen on any of the glasses as Google proposed in its day. Finally, it is necessary to keep it simple and the connection with a smartphone is carried out thanks to Bluetooth. They are available in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and Great Britain.
Presentation of Ray-ban Stories by Mark Zuckerberg. © Facebook
Twenty possible combinations for lenses and frames
The good news is, it’s not all about sunglasses. soleil since there are 20 possible combinations between the type of lens, the type of frame and its color. You can thus choose between the Wayfarer, Wayfarer Large, Round and Meteor models, and opt for simple, tinted or progressive lenses.
For Facebook, this type of device is the future of connected devices because it will allow you to leave your telephone in his pocket. Want to immortalize a concert in the middle of air or a sporting event? No need to have your phone in your hand anymore since the glasses take pictures and videos. For now, the sensors are very modest (five million pixels) and this is obviously limited to photos in broad daylight.
« Hey Facebook, take a picture! »
For videos, they are limited to 30 seconds, but this will be sufficient for sharing on social networks like Instagram, Whatsapp, TikTok, and of course, Facebook. To start recording, it’s like with Alexa or Google, just ask: ” Hey Facebook, take a video! »
People by your side are alerted when a photo or video is taken via a Led. This is the only way for people around to be informed. This is sure to pose problems for the respect of privacy in public places. Then it’s a application : Facebook View who takes care of retouching the images, if necessary, and sharing them. The interface is classic and we can add some 3D effects.
These glasses will also serve as headphones and hands-free kit to take calls with a chip that limits ambient noise during calls. The future will tell if users are ready to give up their headphones and smartphones to keep only their glasses.
For its connected glasses, Facebook wears Ray-Ban
The Facebook connected glasses project is well advanced since the frame should be released in 2021 under the Ray-Ban brand. No augmented or virtual reality, but multimedia functions for taking photos and videos.
Posted on September 17, 2020 by Fabrice Auclert
Will the next decade be marked by a struggle in the connected glasses market? While Google flopped with its Google Glass, Apple and Facebook are working on connected mounts projects, and at Facebook, it is the Project Aria. On the sidelines of the launch of his helmet Oculus Quest 2, Facebook has unveiled the outlines.
For the design and optical part, the social network has chosen to join forces with EssilorLuxottica, owner of the legendary Ray-Ban brand, and Mark Zuckerberg announced that these “smart glasses” would be released in 2021, when it was initially mentioned that 2023. He clarified that there would be no screen in the glasses, and that it would not be will not act glasses of virtual reality or increased. So we move away from Google Glass, and this frame will rather be positioned facing Snap Spectacles, or even Amazon’s Echo Frames.
What about privacy
Starting this month, the glasses will be worn internally by Facebook employees and contractors. A sort of full-scale test to get quick feedback on several important issues. First there is the design itself, to know if they are not too bulky or heavy (around 70 grams). Then you have to judge the usefulness and quality of multimedia functions such as video recording.
Finally, and arguably the most important, there is the issue of privacy and privacy. confidentiality Datas. Especially when your name is Facebook … and especially when you remember that Google had suffered many criticism from the CNIL and equivalents across the planet. Anticipating this problem, Mark Zuckerberg spoke of the implementation of very strict T & Cs (general conditions of use) which force testers to use glasses only in the office, at home and in public spaces. On the other hand, it is forbidden to film or take photos in private establishments such as a store or a restaurant.
Facebook unveils its amazing virtual reality glasses project
To succeed the imposing Oculus headsets, Facebook is working on ultra-light virtual reality glasses. A real technological feat achieved thanks to a lens holographic.
Posted on 06/30/2020 by Fabrice Auclert
It is within the framework of the Siggraph virtual conference that Facebook unveiled its most recent work in matter virtual reality. The goal is clear: gradually abandon the imposing Oculus headsets to move to models much closer to classic glasses.
The teams of Facebook Reality Labs have thus presented a frame, certainly imposing, but much more practical than what we currently see in the virtual reality sector. As proof, these glasses weigh about 18 grams. That’s 30 times less than an Oculus headset! And in his presentation, Facebook announces that it will eventually be possible to drop below 7 grams.
A 9mm thick lens
To achieve such a degree of miniaturization, Facebook has abandoned the usual refractive lenses for a holographic lens, coupled with optical bending based on polarization. It is a thin, flat film to achieve a thickness of less than 9mm while still supporting a field of view comparable to current consumer virtual reality products. To better visualize the interest of this technology, Facebook is leading by example entertainment in museums or just small hologram placed on bank cards.
On the prototype presented on Monday with a simulation of car Of type Need For Speed, we see that the screen only displays green for the moment. The reason ? The plate behaves like a filter and does not yet return the entire color spectrum. The rest of the work therefore focuses on the display of colors, but also the possibility of extending the field of vision.
Facebook and Ray-Ban are preparing the glasses of the future
By 2023, Facebook wants to launch its first connected glasses, capable of making and receiving calls, but also of taking photos and filming. Manufactured under the Ray-Ban brand, these frames are supposed to replace our smartphones.
Posted on 09/18/2019 by Fabrice Auclert
After Microsoft, Google and Snapchat, Will Facebook be the next digital to take an interest in connected glasses. The answer is “yes” according to CNBC which reports that the social network is working with the eyewear brand Luxottica, owner of the famous Ray-Ban, on a project called ” Orion ».
Very ambitious, Facebook plans to replace smartphones with its glasses since they will make it possible to make and receive calls, but also to take photos and videos, and put them online directly. We can therefore imagine that these glasses will be equipped with a microphone, mini speakers on each branch, or even a photo-video sensor on the front. All with a Bluetooth connection or Wi-Fi.
2023 target
Unlike virtual reality headsets, connected glasses are part of augmented reality objects. This means that the user will be able to display information on the lenses in real time. This could be information related to current events, but also to the weather report, the stock market, or simply notifications from social networks.
Facebook’s goal would at best be to release its glasses around 2023, and it will be under the Ray-Ban brand; The Information even evokes a collection with several different models of connected glasses, united for the moment under the code “Stella”.
For now, the connected glasses did not appeal to the general public. The fault in particular to their autonomy since if the integrated chips and the various sensors are not necessarily very greedy in energy, however, it is necessary to succeed in placing a battery that is both light and compact in the branches. We can imagine that by 2023, Facebook and Ray-Ban will have managed to develop a frame capable of displaying around 8 to 10 hours of battery life.
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