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Facebook takes ‘step toward future’ with Ray-Ban Stories shades

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Glenn Chapman, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Facebook and Ray-Ban" s="" first="" smart="" glasses="" which="" launched="" on="" September="" are="" seen="" in="" a="" handout="" image.="" Ray-Ban="" and="" Facebook="" via="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/life/09/09/20210909-ray-ban-fb-rtr.jpg"/><figcaption>Facebook and Ray-Ban&#x27;s first smart glasses which launched on September 9, 2021 are seen in a handout image. <em>Ray-Ban and Facebook handout via Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Facebook and iconic eyewear brand Ray-Ban on Thursday launched their new smart glasses, the latest effort in a tricky, niche market but which the social media giant sees as a step toward its future.</p><p>The &quot;Ray-Ban Stories&quot; shades can take pictures and video upon the wearer&#x27;s voice commands, and the frames can connect wirelessly to Facebook&#x27;s platform through an app.</p><p>&quot;We took our Wayfarer (frames), born in 1952, and we reinvented the design squeezing in some cool technology,&quot; said Fabio Borsoi, global research and design director at the EssilorLuxottica group, Ray-Ban&#x27;s maker. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1771089" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Facebook is wading into a market that has already seen 2013&#x27;s Google Glass, which sparked a privacy backlash over built-in cameras and prompted the tech titan to pivot its focus for the device away from the general public.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/31/21/google-facebook-microsoft-top-eu-lobbying-spending">Google, Facebook, Microsoft top EU lobbying spending - study</a></li></ul><p>Messaging app SnapChat has also released its camera-equipped Spectacles, but they are pricey and have struggled to catch on broadly with tech lovers. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/26/21/facebook-could-launch-digital-wallet-this-year-report">Facebook could launch digital wallet this year: report</a></li></ul><p>Notably, the Ray-Ban Stories glasses will not have augmented reality features -- technology that can mesh online computing with visual cues such as mapping or face recognition.</p><p>Instead, the shades are an early step toward efforts to create futuristic eyewear that adds to real-world views with data or graphics from the internet, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has said previously.</p><p>The company had said in July it was combining specialists from across its hardware, gaming and virtual reality units to build an immersive digital world known as the &quot;metaverse.&quot;</p><div><strong>- Privacy features -</strong></div><p>Priced starting at $299, the Ray-Ban Stories will roll out in Australia, Britain, Canada, Ireland, Italy and the United States. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/05/21/facebook-sparks-row-by-cutting-off-researchers">Facebook sparks row by cutting off researchers</a></li></ul><p>Cameras are built into the front of the frames, while the arms are designed to act as directional speakers for listening to calls or streamed audio.</p><p>A white light in the front of the frame goes on when the cameras are being used, which is intended as a privacy feature to alert people they could be filmed.</p><p>Users can take a picture or a video clip of up to 30 seconds by pressing a button at the temple or using a voice command, both of which can be cues that a camera is on.</p><p>&quot;We need the user to feel completely in control of their capture experience,&quot; said Facebook Reality Labs product manager Hind Hobeika.</p><p>&quot;And, similarly, we need people around them to feel comfortable that these smart glasses exist and always be in the know when a capture is happening,&quot; Hobeika added, referring to filming.</p><p>The glasses also have a physical switch for turning them off. </p><p>Users log into the glasses&#x27; Facebook View app using their accounts at the social network.</p><p>Ray-Ban Stories frames sync wirelessly to a smartphone app designed specifically for handling images or video captured by the glasses.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/07/27/21/facebook-sets-up-new-team-to-work-on-metaverse">Facebook sets up new team to work on &#x27;metaverse&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>Users can decide using the app whether they want to share pictures or video they have just captured, such as posting to Facebook or attaching them to an email.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/11/21/tiktok-tops-facebook-as-most-downloaded-app-of-2020">TikTok tops Facebook as most downloaded app of 2020</a></li></ul><p>Only data needed to run the app is gathered, and no information is used for targeting ads, said Hobeika.<br/> </p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1770990" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

‘Ray-Ban Stories’ shades can take images upon the wearer's voice commands, while the frames can connect to Facebook's platform through an app.

Facebook takes ‘step toward future’ with Ray-Ban Stories shades

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Facebook takes ‘step toward future’ with Ray-Ban Stories shades

Glenn Chapman,

Agence France-Presse

Published Sep 10, 2021 02:33 AM PHT

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Updated Sep 10, 2021 10:20 AM PHT

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