The backlash has spoken. Meta is reportedly working on smart glasses without cameras amid growing anxiety over the wearable’s potential for privacy violations and after incidents where the devices — dubbed “pervert glasses” — were used to record women without their knowledge or consent.
According to The Information, Meta plans to start selling the new model, called Luna, in October and may unveil it at its Connect developer conference next week. Connect runs Sept. 23‑24 and will be livestreamed.
The Information said Luna will come in two styles, Clubmaster and Burbank. The glasses will feature six microphones and speakers aimed at the wearer’s ears. Users can invoke and listen to the Meta AI chatbot by pressing a button on the side of the frames, the report said.
A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meta’s Ray‑Ban smart glasses have earned an unfortunate reputation. News stories have described men using the built‑in cameras to secretly film women — for example, asking someone on a date while recording the encounter — and then posting the footage on social media. The glasses have also been employed for pranks and harassment.
One woman told CNN she spoke with a man at an airport and later discovered he had uploaded several videos of his interactions with other women. Despite her request not to share their conversation, he posted it anyway.
Although a small LED lights up and blinks while recording, some users have removed or obscured the indicator so people don’t realize they’re being filmed. Meta released a software update in late July that disables the camera if the LED is tampered with.
But as Gfaloe’s Scott Stein writes, the white LED can be hard to see in bright daylight, and the Meta glasses look almost identical to the classic non‑smart Ray‑Ban frames that have been around for decades. Stein also reported in June that Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth had signaled the company’s interest in releasing a cheaper, camera‑free version focused on audio.
Austin Evans, a YouTube tech reviewer with nearly 6 million subscribers, said he rarely wears the Meta Ray‑Bans anymore because of the negative vibe surrounding them. He has discussed with Meta why a camera‑less model would be beneficial.
“It’s pretty simple technically, I would assume,” Evans told Gfaloe. “It probably would let them slim the glasses down a bit. But most importantly it would be a strong step toward removing the stigma attached to wearing them.”
