- A new update arrives to Meta’s smart glasses
- It should prevent modders from disabling the light that lets people know you’re using the camera.
- Meta also targets modders on and off its platform.
Last month we shared details of reports that metaglasses were being modified to bypass privacy protections and turn them into secret spy glasses. Now Meta has revealed that it will update the glasses’ software to detect if its light has been tampered with (or destroyed) to prevent recording.
Every time you take a photo or video with the Meta glasses, a white light appears on the front of the glasses to tell people around you that you are filming.
For those looking to be more secretive with their recordings, this light is a hurdle, but Meta has imposed more basic tamper-proof features since its release. That is, any attempt to use the camera while the light is blocked, such as with a piece of tape, would not be permitted. The problem is that modders have found ways to open the glasses and disable or damage the light and its mechanisms that prevent it from displaying, without the system telling you, meaning that you can use the camera as you normally would, but without anyone else knowing.
This (to put it bluntly) is not good, and when the reports came out, a Meta spokesperson told me that the company was looking for ways to disable this fix.
They also explained that Meta is working hard to eradicate ads for these types of services, some of which appeared on its own Facebook Marketplace platform, and its latest announcement explains that this means banning accounts, removing listings, and taking legal action against people or companies that manipulate their technology.
Beyond the details about updating software to prevent tampering, Meta’s entire article focuses on privacy and, fundamentally, how Meta keeps you and others safe.
Thanks to the misuse of their technology, the broader notoriety these devices are gaining again, and reports of contractors seeing recorded images and videos that Meta glasses wearers may not have realized they could see, Meta and smart glasses manufacturers have faced significant privacy issues.
With this article, Meta seems to answer many of them, although we will have to wait and see if it can convince users, or if they might be tempted by the rise of cameraless smart glasses.
Is the only way without a camera?
Even Realities, another smart glasses company, recently announced that it had raised $150 million in investments at a $1 billion valuation, which isn’t bad at all for a company that only launched its first XR device in 2024.
Instead of Meta’s camera-first approach, Even Realities opted for a view-first approach. Information is displayed visually as green text and basic diagrams to provide features such as AI advice, navigation directions, or a speech that appears on a virtual indicator. Its specifications also lack speakers, although that is not true for all glasses of this type.
Losing the camera is, of course, a huge privacy win for some, as there is no possible way for the glasses to see anything they shouldn’t or shouldn’t be used for spying.
The thing is, I think these types of glasses are pretty terrible. After having tried some at home, it is not worth using the ones without a camera.
Smart glasses, despite becoming increasingly popular, are in their infancy, which in the world of technology means you can expect to pay a fair amount for relatively limited features – that’s the price of being an early adopter. I found this to be especially true for these XR glasses specifically, because while they may offer various tools such as navigation, on-screen translations, a prompt, and notification pop-ups, their usefulness is quite limited.
How often do you need a prompter? Or one-way translation tools? In the case of the latter, because these types of glasses often make you rely on your phone to set up the translation function or access other functions, you can also turn to something like Google Translate, which has conversation modes so two people can talk and see translations through a single device.
The software I’ve found for these types of specs can also be pretty terrible with slowness, inaccuracies, and glitches, and if I, as someone who tests smart glasses professionally, have problems, I can’t imagine what less techy people must think.
Additionally, the green text can be difficult to make out on a bright day if you’re outside, making it difficult to see the on-screen instructions.
While more limited in features, Meta glasses and smart specs like these seem to be better value for money. From Meta specifically, the software is generally very reliable, and more generally the ability to take a photo at any time, whether to capture a moment or to provide context for an AI’s response, comes in handy very often.
Even if it’s not as good as my phone’s camera, the ability to record a memory, hands-free and without missing the moment, is absolutely delightful.
Yes, there are privacy challenges that need to be addressed more formally, as even without the ability to record privately, there’s still plenty of room for scoundrels to harass people with this type of device, but if you want a pair of smart glasses right now, there simply isn’t a better option.
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