Meta launches £299 Ray-Ban smart glasses with dual hidden cameras – as Mark Zuckerberg desperately tries to maintain interest in the ‘Metaverse’

At first glance, these glasses look like any other stylish glasses.

However, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice two tiny cameras hidden in the arms, allowing the wearer to secretly take photos and videos.

The £299 glasses are Meta’s latest wearable, which they launched last night during the Meta Connect 2023 conference.

They have new AI capabilities, meaning they can identify places and objects people see and do real-time language translation.

“Smart glasses are the ideal form factor for you to have AI assistants see what you see and hear what you hear,” said Mark Zuckerberg.

At first glance, these glasses look like any other stylish glasses. However, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice two tiny cameras hidden in the arms, allowing the wearer to secretly take photos and videos

The £299 glasses are Meta’s latest wearable, which they launched last night during the Meta Connect 2023 conference

Zuckerberg announced the new glasses during the Connect conference at Meta’s headquarters in Silicon Valley.

“Advances in AI allow us to create different (applications) and personas that help us accomplish different things,” he said.

“And smart glasses will eventually allow us to combine all of this into a stylish form factor that we can wear.”

The second generation Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses feature improved speakers with expanded bass, higher maximum volume and improved directional audio.

Meanwhile, a new 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera allows wearers to take photos and record videos up to 60 seconds long.

Since the photos were likely designed with Instagram Stories in mind, they will automatically be taken in portrait orientation.

“We also made the flashing privacy LED on the outside of the glasses larger and clearer so people will know when someone is taking photos, videos, or livestreaming from the glasses,” Meta said.

As for battery life, users can get up to four hours at a time before charging the glasses in the included case.

The glasses have new AI capabilities, meaning they can identify places and objects that people see and perform real-time language translation

Users can choose between the iconic Wayfarer style or a new headliner style in five colors: Matte Black, Shiny Black, Jeans, Rebel Black and Caramel

While you might worry that the cameras, microphones and battery would make for a heavy device, Meta assures that the weight of the frame has been reduced and the weight distribution improved, making them “lighter and more comfortable.”

Meta’s AI has been integrated into the data glasses and can be activated with the wake-up phrase “Hey Meta”.

For example, if you want to share a photo you took with a friend, you can simply say, “Hey Meta, send a photo to.” [insert name].’

Unfortunately, this feature is only available in the US at launch, although Meta says it plans to “expand the availability and types of questions you can ask over time.”

Users can choose between the iconic Wayfarer style or a new headliner style in five colors: Matte Black, Shiny Black, Jeans, Rebel Black and Caramel.

The glasses will have a starting price of £299 ($299) when they go on sale on October 17th.

The smart glasses are Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s latest attempt to maintain interest in the “metaverse.”

Last year it was revealed that Meta had committed to dedicating 20 percent of its costs to its Reality Labs division – despite the company’s stock price falling 60 percent and a top Metaverse executive leaving.

Fewer than half of the expected 500,000 users had signed up for Horizon Worlds – the company’s flagship virtual reality world – in December.

Meanwhile, Meta lost at least $30 billion over the course of a year in its attempt to build virtual worlds.