After Snapchat and its Shows, Facebook (Meta) is also trying the adventure of connected glasses. He launched this Thursday, April 14, the marketing of Ray-Ban Stories in France. They had been available in a few countries elsewhere in the world since the end of last year, which had enabled 01net.com to try them out for the first time.
As their name suggests, they are manufactured and marketed by Ray-Ban, or rather EssilorLuxottica, which owns the brand. Instead of inventing an entirely new design, the partners rely on three iconic Ray-Ban sight and sun models. There are many possible combinations depending on the lenses or colors for fairly high prices since it starts from 329 euros anyway. I tested the classic dark blue Round version.
Impeccable design and finishes
The integration of technology and the finishes are very successful. It was still necessary to incorporate a Bluetooth module, two 5 Mpix cameras, three microphones and speakers in this product! And it can’t be seen. As a result, the glasses weigh only five grams more than the original unconnected version. We can just observe that the branches are thicker, without spoiling their aesthetics.
Everything is comfortable and easy to wear. The transport case is also very well thought out since it allows you to automatically recharge the glasses without thinking about it. Fortunately, because the glasses only have 3 to 6 hours of battery life. You will still have to think about recharging the case at the end of the day.
Ray-Ban Stories allow you to take photos, videos (up to 60 seconds) and listen to music. The voice call functionality that relies on the Messenger application is not yet available in French.
You must both link your Ray-Ban Stories to your Facebook account, and download the dedicated Facebook View application to pair the product with your smartphone.
There are two ways to interact with the glasses. By touching them first. You have to briefly press the touchpad located above the right arm of the frame to start a video and again to stop. We press longer to take a photo. We sweep the right branch to modify the audio volume.
It is also possible to use the voice assistant recently available in French. The glasses call out to each other with a “Hey Facebook” or any other command that has been personalized beforehand. Everything works quite smoothly, even if we have regularly triggered the music without wanting to by removing or replacing the glasses.
Image quality is decent
Photos display 2592 X 1944 pixels and videos 1184 X 1184 pixels. The quality of the pictures is still quite average. The result is correct outdoors with good light.
But as soon as we find ourselves inside, the image deteriorates.
The palette is rather dull with some colors that stand out a bit too brightly like green. In short, it is better to use your smartphone to get better photos!
Learn to frame from your eyes
It is also not easy to frame from your eyes when you have no feedback on what you are doing. We sometimes found photos askew because the frame was not straight on our nose.
The worst is the hair that hides the lens without us noticing it, tracing like streaks from top to bottom of the photos, as we can see below.
It is not possible to zoom and the angle obtained at eye level is not necessarily the most appropriate to capture something on the fly. Finally, we don’t spontaneously think of standing still and positioning ourselves well in front of the object we want to photograph.
So, of course, the hands-free mode is interesting in certain situations, as is the case with a GoPro type on-board camera. Capturing moments when you play football, ride a bike, run or cook without having to stop to draw your smartphone, it’s practical and fun. However, even if the stability is relatively good, we will notice that the videos move according to the oscillations of the head when we move. Here again, the result is therefore not completely satisfactory.
An LED and lenses not visible enough
But the most problematic aspect of these Ray-Ban Stories is privacy. Meta has drawn up a code of good conduct in which it recommends its users to respect the decision of people who do not want to be filmed or photographed and not to shoot in private places.
He also put some safeguards in place. It is not possible to make live video with the glasses on social networks, nor to upload photos directly from the glasses. A white LED finally lights up when taking a photo or video to warn the environment.
The problem is that this light signal is very small and not very visible from the outside, especially in direct sunlight. In addition, the photo sensors are also extremely discreet. For comparison, those in the Snapchat Spectacles were much more imposing and identifiable.
We launched videos in public transport, in supermarkets, in the street, or on café terraces. Everywhere we went, no one seemed to notice we were filming. If it is impossible to reduce the intensity of the LED, it is however feasible to hide it. There are also sound notifications, but they are intended for the person wearing the glasses and you can only hear them when you are really close.
Ray-Ban Stories glasses can therefore be used as a spy tool by a malicious person. Without going that far, knowing that everyone could potentially photograph and film without being noticed, and keep those images indefinitely, is still damn intrusive and scary.
Certainly, today, no one expects people who wear glasses to be able to film you. Hence Meta’s desire to carry out communication campaigns to inform about this new type of product and learn how to use it. We doubt that is enough.
Almost ten years after the failure of Google Glass, this type of connected glasses still faces the same obstacle: that of respect for privacy. In our opinion, the Ray-Ban Stories do not provide sufficient guarantees to protect it.