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Facebook Launches Its Ray-Ban Smartglasses

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By Akerele Christabel

October 14, 2021
12:39 pm
Los Angeles, CA

"If you’ve been waiting for an invitation, this calligraphy is it. Commissioned by Facebook, this is a hand-lettered design for a poster. Quote is Facebook mine "

- Massimo Vignelli

In early September, Facebook announced the launch of its smart and wearable glasses that is able to take pictures, short videos and answer phone calls and play music and podcasts. The $299 sunglasses which comes in 20 different designs is one of Facebooks highlights this year. The smart glasses, Ray-Ban Stories is a combination of the fashion ingenuity of eyewear giant EssilorLuxottic and Facebooks Augmented Reality technology and its attempt- according to Andrew Bosworth, head of Facebook Reality Labs- to redefine what memories are for the individual by helping people to “actually be in the moment they’re in”. For many people the idea of smart glasses is not new. Whether it’s the Google Glass launched in 2011 or Silicon valley’s several other attempts at it, some of us have

The smart glasses, Ray-Ban Stories is a combination of the fashion ingenuity of eyewear giant EssilorLuxottic and Facebooks Augmented Reality technology and its attempt- according to Andrew Bosworth, head of Facebook Reality Labs- to redefine what memories are for the individual by helping people to “actually be in the moment they’re in”.

For many people the idea of smart glasses is not new. Whether it’s the Google Glass launched in 2011 or Silicon valley’s several other attempts at it, some of us have come across it at one point or the other. Maybe you even owned one. If you have, then you would know that so far, the idea has been as much a success as one might have anticipated. In fact, some might even consider it an utter failure. So then, what is it about Facebooks attempt that might make this idea more liable to succeed?

Facebook’s Startup Approach.

When you consider the landscape for the product, the entire timing in relation to the availability of certain technologies to the ‘common man’ and the great shift in awareness of social need, the advent or resurfacing of the smartglasses by Facebookcan be predicted to do a lot better than other ideas that have surfaced in the past. One of the major reasons the smartglasses did not get the kind of credit they deserve is that a great product was placed in the hands of people but this left a lot of them asking the question, ‘what for?’. Facebook- the social media guru company- has answered that question by simply showing why the glasses should be a part of your social life.
Facebooks approach to the idea is brilliant! What Facebook did that was different from every other person is that they followed the startup method. They were able to gain more control of the outcome by working in collaboration with a company whose product design is not only socially appealing but also has a high level of customer’s trust. I mean, everyone loves a good ‘ol pair of Ray-Ban, right?

FEATURES.

Svelte Frames
2. Two onboard 5MP cameras that allow you take photos and videos
3. In-frame speakers that allow you listen to music and take phone calls
4. Weighing less than 50 grams
5. Leather charging case and a battery life of ‘all-day’ once fully charged.
6. Enough storage for 500 pictures
7. On glasses buttons that allow you capture and turn the device on and off.
8. An onboard white LED that’s mainly to curb the privacy issue surrounding the product

To use the glasses, one must have Facebook’s View App. The app allows you to use the full features of the glasses once you connect. It allows you download pictures and videos taken with the glasses as well as add 3D effects to those pictures.
The Ray-Ban glasses have been met with many concerns. The top on the list? Privacy! For a company that has been under constant barrage recently as regards privacy, launching a product that allows its users capture the lives of other people without them knowing seems to be a rather strange move.
Regardless of this CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls the Ray-Ban Stories ”an important step toward a future when phones are no longer a central part of our lives and you won’t have to choose between interacting with a device or interacting with the world around you,”.