Meta and EssilorLuxottica unveiled camera-free Ray-Ban Audio glasses at Meta Connect on 23 September, alongside a new generation of camera-equipped Ray-Ban Meta glasses, Vision Monday reported. The $349 Audio model arrives as Meta faces criticism over the privacy of glasses that can record people nearby. Removing its camera changes one part of that problem, while leaving the microphones that make voice interaction possible.
Key points
- Ray-Ban Audio has no camera, starts at $349 and is due to ship on 13 October.
- Its microphones support calls and spoken requests to Meta AI; the battery lasts up to 12 hours.
- The camera-equipped Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 starts at $449.
- Meta plans to bring its Muse assistant to its AI glasses in the US, while questions remain about audio recording.
Ray-Ban Audio keeps the microphones
Ray-Ban Audio retains microphones and open-ear speakers for music, calls and access to Meta AI. It comes in Clubmaster and Burbank styles, weighs as little as 43 grams and offers up to 12 hours of battery life, according to the companies’ specifications reported by Vision Monday. Adjustable fittings and support for a range of prescriptions put the electronics inside frames intended for regular wear, rather than in a device carried separately.
The camera is the conspicuous difference from Meta’s other glasses. Spoken requests still need microphones, and answers can come through the speakers: the frame serves as a voice interface without offering the wearer a way to take photographs or video. Meta and EssilorLuxottica describe Audio as their lightest and slimmest glasses so far, a claim about their own range rather than a comparison with other manufacturers.
Taking a phone call could leave both hands free, while a spoken request could reach Meta AI without a camera. That convenience would depend on wearing a device with microphones, which is also why taking away the lens would not remove questions about what the glasses might hear.
The camera-equipped Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 is already available from $449, USA Today reported. It includes a 3K Ultra HD camera, a new six-array microphone, an assignable button for Meta AI and up to nine hours of battery life. The two releases therefore give buyers a choice between an audio-only frame and one that can capture images, with different batteries and controls as well as different starting prices.
Muse moves into Meta’s glasses
Meta and EssilorLuxottica said Muse, Meta’s personal AI agent, is coming to all their AI glasses, with availability limited to the US. Meta said voice commands would let wearers ask Muse to shop, arrange appointments and perform other tasks, USA Today reported. Access through glasses would put those requests into a form that begins with speech rather than a screen, although the announcement concerned a planned addition to the eyewear.
Muse was released as a consumer app earlier in September. Once personal accounts are connected, it is designed to act on requests involving services, appointments and calls, Vanguard reported before Connect. Putting that agent on glasses would give Meta another route to the same kinds of requests. AI Affairs also reported on the Muse Charm handheld device unveiled at Connect.
The two companies said their eyewear range would exceed 100 styles by the end of the year. That expansion covers more than the new audio frames: Gen 3 comes in 27 colour and lens combinations, while the wider range includes further styles and prescription options. For companies building services that Muse can use, the proposed voice interface places their transactions in the path of requests made through eyewear as well as through the app.
Meta’s recording light faces a different test
Meta’s camera-equipped glasses have drawn criticism because they can film people who may not know they are being recorded. The company implemented a software update, announced in July, that disables the camera if its recording light is physically tampered with or destroyed. USA Today previously reported that people had offered to remove the light, making recording harder for others to notice.
Audio-only glasses remove that particular camera-and-light problem but retain a means of collecting sound. Linda Sui of Smart Analytics Global said microphones could prompt similar privacy concerns, though probably to a lesser degree. Jitesh Ubrani of IDC argued that Meta needs a way to warn people about recording even when it is audio-only. Both comments were reported by USA Today.
Meta has also offered an opt-out for visual data training and contractor review on its glasses, as AI Affairs previously reported. At Connect, Zuckerberg said Meta would bring “private processing” to AI glasses later this year. He described confidential processing as a way to shield data captured by the glasses from Meta, according to USA Today.
The timing of the camera-free model has drawn attention to privacy, but the frames have long design and manufacturing lead times, Inc. reported. Meta is releasing them alongside glasses that still have cameras, rather than replacing the camera-equipped range. Ray-Ban Audio also keeps the microphones central to Meta’s proposed voice features.
Meta will ship Ray-Ban Audio on 13 October.
