THROUGH THE ZUCKING GLASS
Mark Zuckerberg’s AI smart glasses will let you speak other languages – but you’ll use two kitchen tricks even more
The Sun went hands-on with the glasses in a demo at Meta HQ
MARK Zuckerberg is upgrading his AI smart glasses with even more brainy tricks – and says they’ll even let you speak other languages.
The tech billionaire showed off his new specs at this year’s Meta Connect event at Facebook HQ.
8
8
8
Physically they’re the same Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses that came out last year, with a built-in camera for snapping photos and videos.
But Zuckerberg and friends have upgraded the Meta AI that lives inside the glasses.
You talk to the AI out loud by asking questions – and if it can’t answer using built-in speakers then the info will be sent to your phone.
For instance, you can now use the glasses to scan QR codes and open the link on your phone.
Read more on Meta
Some questions will be answered using the built-in speakers, however.
You can ask it to tell you about things you’re looking at, like a model of a car or a famous statue.
And it can take actions too, like reminding you to buy a book that you’re looking at.
Right now this is limited to still moments: you’ll look at an object, the glasses take a photo, and then that image is analysed.
Most read in Tech
But Meta says that it’s adding video to Meta AI so that they can see what you’re seeing in real-time – just like a human.
LATEST META NEWS:
- Mark Zuckerberg reveals cheap new VR goggles and I’ve already tried them – two freebies makes it a Christmas must-have – read here
- Meta takes on Apple’s Siri with Facebook AI that ‘talks to you’ in long list of celeb voices and can ‘see’ like a human – read here
- Mark Zuckerberg reveals holographic Orion glasses ‘controlled by brain’ that is ‘next major computing platform’ – read here
Meta Quest 3 goggles unveiled in 2023 with sci-fi VR features
So if you’re exploring a city, it’ll be able to give you info on famous landmarks as if it were a personal tour guide.
8
And Meta says it can even help when you’re “preparing a meal”, presumably to stop you making any dining gaffes that will ruin dinner for everyone.
That’s not the only kitchen trick: it’ll also by able to remind you if you’re running low on cereal, for instance. Then you can grab it next time you’re doing a shop.
One of the biggest announcements is the upcoming addition of language translation, which will be perfect for holiday makers.
Meta says live language translation will “allow people to communicate effortlessly between English and French, Italian or Spanish, to start”.
You'll hear Spanish in your ear in English, and a mobile companion app translates what you say back to the person you're talking to.
8
THE SUN'S SEAN KEACH TRIES META SPECS
The Sun's Head of Technology and Science had a chance to don the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses at Meta HQ...
I wear glasses every day, so the idea of donning a pair of specs isn't exactly alien to me.
But convincing people with perfectly sharp eyesight to put on a pair of glasses might be a bit of an ask.
Mark Zuckerberg and friends think they've clocked it with the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses – serving up enough features for you to consider signing over some of your face real estate to them.
I got a chance to look at probably two dozen different shapes and sizes of glasses, and plenty of them look great.
The only clear downside is that they have a bit of bulk compared to regular glasses, but it's not a huge problem. And especially not if you're buying the sunglasses, where bigger specs feels a bit more palatable.
Anyway once they were on, using Meta AI was extremely easy.
I would just say "Hey Meta" followed by a simple request.
I used it to instantly translate a sign from Spanish to English, to scan a QR code, and to remind me to buy something later.
It was very easy and worked eerily well. It really was like having an AI assistant in my brain.
Once Meta adds the ability for it to analyse video of what you're seeing, as well as live-translate language for you, it's going to be a game-changer.
But I wasn't able to test either of those features just yet.
What I will say is that they feel like a worthwhile buy for gadget fans, even minus those bonus features coming down the line.
And even if you don't use any of the AI stuff, it's quite fun to have a camera on your face. And yes, you can control that with your voice too.
8
The feature is said to be “coming later this year”, although we don’t have an exact release date.
Meta is also adding support for some third-party apps, so you can easily interact with them using the glasses.
This includes Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, and iHeart.
The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses start at £299 in the UK and $299 in the US.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
8
8
But some of the above features won’t be available right away – and will instead roll out in the coming months.
However, most of the AI features are available right now if you're tempted.
Topics