Smart glasses now allow people to send and receive messages from their faces

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has said that people can send and receive messages through smart glasses by using their faces. Ray-Ban smart glasses will be able to send and receive messages thanks to a software update by Facebook Messenger.

‘Rolling out more hands-free features for Ray-Ban Stories, including the ability to send messages, hear messages read out, and make calls (all via Messenger), as well as controlling the volume and pausing and resuming audio with your voice. We’re just getting started. More updates to Ray-Ban Stories coming in 2022,’ said Zuckerberg on Facebook.

Since last September, Facebook has been trying to integrate messaging across its suite of apps.   The first step was to integrate it with Instagram and Messenger.  It made a similar move with its namesake app and Messenger in August. With its latest smart glasses, Facebook and iconic eyewear brand Ray-Ban have launched their latest effort in a tricky, niche market, but one that the social media giant sees as a step forward. Ray-Ban Stories’ $299 frames will be able to take pictures and videos upon the wearer’s voice command, and they will also be able to wirelessly connect to Facebook using an app.

Read more: The ‘painkiller epidemic’ kills 100,000: US targets Chinese firms

Facebook has invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality, developing headsets like its Oculus VR headset and developing wristbands to support augmented reality glasses. Smart glasses have been developed by major technology companies like Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google, Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, and Snap Inc, but early products like Google Glass failed to attract consumers due to their high prices and design problems.

It has said it would not use the content of photos or videos captured by the glasses and stored in the Facebook View app for personalizing ads, and that the glasses would provide an ‘ad-free experience’. The glasses have an optional virtual assistant, which lets users take pictures and videos hands-free using voice commands. The LED light on the glasses will indicate when the wearer is taking photos or videos, so that other people will be aware of when they are taking them.