Do you remember Meta’s (then Facebook) Ray Ban Stories project? You know, Meta’s collaboration with the renowned eyewear specialist on digitally enhanced glasses that basically function as smartphones on your eyes. After a long period of silence, they’ve resurfaced! Meta has announced a couple of new elements for Ray Ban Stories, which still don’t take it into the realm of AR just yet, but they could add a level of relevance for some users.
A Voice For Your Eyes
First off, Meta’s added new voice commands within the system, which will enable you to reply to incoming WhatsApp, Messenger, and text messages just by speaking. Here’s how Meta puts it:
“Once your message is read out, say ‘Hey Facebook, reply’, and you’re off to the races, while you can also now tee up a new WhatsApp, Messenger, or text message with a single voice command. For example, you could say, ‘Hey Facebook, send Jasmine a message on WhatsApp: can’t wait for spring break,’ and your glasses will confirm the message before sending.”
This is but one of several new voice controls activatable when wearing your Meta glasses – which might look a bit weird to passersby, but could be handy for replying on the go. Meta’s also looking to make its voice commands more conversational and responsive, with more natural-sounding engagement.
Again, especially for those outside of the loop, it may seem a bit odd for those in your immediate vicinity, but it’ll be another way to improve device utility, which might just come in handy in some situations. Meta’s also integrating Spotify controls for Android (already available for iOS), allowing you to cue up music when wearing the device. At the same time, it’s also rolling out Meta accounts to Ray Ban Stories, which will mean that you can log into their smart glasses without using a Facebook account.
At most, this resurgence of sorts is mainly some minor tweaks for Ray Ban Stories, providing additional functions. They’re not major updates – Ray Ban STories are not Meta’s long-awaited AR glasses, which are supposedly still in development. At one stage, there were even reports that Meta had shelved its AR glasses push, as a part of its broader cost-cutting efforts. More recently, however, Meta has indicated that the next stage for the device will be coming in the next few years, also tying in with its Metaverse vision.
Based on Meta’s product roadmap, the next big update for its Ray Ban Stories glasses will include a ‘viewfinder’ element. The viewfinder will allow users to read incoming text messages within their field of view, while they’ll also include QR code scanning capacity, along with hand controls to navigate the display. Ray Ban Stories are set to launch in 2025, while a full AR version is slated for launch in 2027, which marks the next big leap for Meta’s wearables projects, bringing digital experiences into direct integration with daily living.
The Wrap
Though, as noted, that plan could be impacted by Meta’s efficiency push, which will see the company slash around 20,000 staff in total. Even within this, Meta continues to spend big on its next-level developments, and, given its alignment with the Metaverse, it does seem like the next stage of its smart glasses will remain a priority. But, as repeatedly stated, we’re not there just yet. These are smaller tweaks, which are unlikely to prompt a sudden sales rush on Ray Ban Stories. However, they’re necessary steps in their steady development.
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