Meta presents camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio after privacy controversies
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Meta presented the Ray-Ban Meta Audio on Thursday (24/9), a camera-free version of its smart glasses. The product retains the original models’ audio features, such as phone calls and music playback through speakers directed toward the wearer’s ears, and the company says it has a lower price, a lighter frame and longer battery life. Meta says the device had been in development for two years and denies that the release was a rushed response to privacy criticism.
The camera-equipped glasses faced reports of women and girls being recorded without consent, followed by the images being shared online. In the United Kingdom, JD Wetherspoon pubs, some theaters, Comic-Con, certain schools and the Faslane naval base banned their use. The new model may appeal to people interested in music, maps and other phone-connected functions without the camera that fueled part of the controversy.
Why it matters · editorial interpretation
The camera-free version separates audio features from a function that was at the center of privacy criticism and bans in some places. This could broaden the situations in which users and venues consider connected glasses acceptable, although Meta denies the release was a rushed response to the controversy.
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