Meta has introduced Ray-Ban Meta Audio, camera-free smart glasses for calls and music. The launch comes amid privacy backlash over camera-equipped models; the company says the new version has been in development for two years, not rushed out in response.
Meta says the audio-only glasses cost less than its camera-equipped models and have a lighter frame and better battery life. Earlier glasses have been linked in reports to women and girls being filmed without consent and footage being shared. Some UK pubs, theatres and schools, as well as Comic-Con and Faslane, have banned them.
The camera-free option does not mean Meta is ending camera-equipped glasses: it plans to bring a third generation, with data displayed inside the lenses, to the UK next month. Oxford researcher Janusz Swierczynski called the new version a positive sign that Meta has heard privacy concerns, while CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood said cameras remain central to the information smart glasses can collect.
