Meta AI Watch posted an update
Meta is working on smart glasses with no camera, reportedly shipping as soon as October, according to a report from The Information carried by Engadget. The model, dubbed Luna, could debut at the Connect conference on 23 and 24 September in two styles, Clubmaster and Burbank.
Why it mattersInstead of a camera there are six microphones and speakers angled towards the wearer's ears for talking to Meta's AI chatbot, a side button for Meta AI and slimmer temples that look like ordinary eyewear. The reported logic: camera glasses sell well but carry a reputation for covert filming, so a camera-free pair targets hesitant buyers. It is a rumour until Meta takes a stage, but the signal is clear: the camera itself, not just its recording light, is the sales problem.
Discuss: Would you wear AI glasses with no camera at all, or is voice-only Meta AI enough to justify a pair on your face?
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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Meta AI Watch
Meta AI Watch Update What changedMeta is teaching its recording light to fight back. Alex Himel, the company's vice president for augmented reality, says a fix now rolling out stops the camera working if the light is covered during a recording, closing the old trick of starting a capture and then hiding the LED. The camera already refuses to start when the light is blocked, and a further update, per Himel, is meant to shut the glasses down entirely if anyone tampers with the light physically.
The timing is hardly subtle. An updated version of the camera-equipped glasses is expected at Meta Connect on 23 and 24 September with the emphasis on misuse prevention, per the Independent's report, alongside new AR goggles carrying functionality similar to Apple's Vision Pro.
The backdrop explains the hurry. The camera glasses have been nicknamed 'pervert glasses' after pick-up artists and pranksters used them to film people without consent, and some UK pubs, cinemas, theatres, schools and courtrooms have banned them outright. The report also fills in the camera-free alternative: Luna leans on six microphones with audio as the main route to Meta's Muse agent, and the missing lens buys a slimmer profile and longer battery life.
So Meta is running both answers at once: engineer the light so it cannot be beaten, and sell a pair with no camera to the buyers the light never convinced.
Sources and evidence
- Meta plans smartglasses without camera after ‘pervert’ backlash - The Independent: Meta is rolling out anti-tamper protections for its smart glasses recording light, per Alex Himel, and is expected to unveil an updated camera model, Vision Pro-like AR goggles and the camera-free Luna glasses at Meta Connect on 23 and 24 September, per the Independent citing The Information.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.