Thu. Feb 6th, 2025

Meta’s Smart Glasses Ignore Why Google Glass Failed<!-- wp:html --><p>Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty</p> <p>Ten years after the initial launch of Google Glass, one of the earliest commercially-available pairs of camera-equipped smart glasses, a second wearable technology revolution is underway—and it’s mostly ignoring the lessons of the first go-round.</p> <p>Last month, <a href="http://thedailybeast.com/keyword/meta">Meta</a> CEO <a href="http://thedailybeast.com/keyword/mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</a> took the stage at Meta Connect—the company’s annual conference for virtual reality developers—and unveiled something significantly more compelling than <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-metaverse-is-inevitable-but-not-how-mark-zuckerberg-and-meta-expect">virtual legs</a>: the Meta Smart Glasses.</p> <p>The Meta Smart Glasses, which are the product of a partnership between the social media giant and glasses maker Ray-Ban, are actually the second generation of internet-connected eyewear to come out of this collaboration. The first, the <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/09/introducing-ray-ban-stories-smart-glasses/">Ray-Ban Stories</a>, dropped in 2021 and were largely forgotten. The lenses were equipped with dual cameras that could capture pictures or 30-second video clips.</p> <p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/meta-and-ray-bans-smart-glasses-ignore-why-google-glass-failed">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty

Ten years after the initial launch of Google Glass, one of the earliest commercially-available pairs of camera-equipped smart glasses, a second wearable technology revolution is underway—and it’s mostly ignoring the lessons of the first go-round.

Last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at Meta Connect—the company’s annual conference for virtual reality developers—and unveiled something significantly more compelling than virtual legs: the Meta Smart Glasses.

The Meta Smart Glasses, which are the product of a partnership between the social media giant and glasses maker Ray-Ban, are actually the second generation of internet-connected eyewear to come out of this collaboration. The first, the Ray-Ban Stories, dropped in 2021 and were largely forgotten. The lenses were equipped with dual cameras that could capture pictures or 30-second video clips.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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