Clare Burgess, CEO of Sensory Services by Sight for Surrey had been hearing lots of chat about Ray-Ban Meta AI Wayfarers for the last year as they were released in the US some time ago. She was really excited to hear they were coming to the UK and ordered herself a pair.
Here Clare shares her thoughts about them and how she uses them, and her dislikes and things to consider.
“Having now been using Ray-Ban Meta glasses for a couple of months, I can share that I think they are brilliant, and very good value at around £299 a pair. I went for the sunglasses variety, but I think I will be tempted to get another pair next year with clear or transition lenses. I have listed below some of the ways I use the glasses regularly, and some of the commands that I use to do so. One thing to note though at the moment, the ‘look and see’ function is not enabled in the UK, so to overcome this, when I got my glasses I downloaded the Meta AI app onto my phone using a VPN set to the US, this worked and I have perfect access (and could then get rid of the VPN).
Three things I like most about them:
- You can choose if you want to use verbal commands, or if you would like to use gestures on the glasses themselves (for example, tapping one of the arms twice) for commands you give often, such as turning on or off music, or asking for the time.
- I find the ‘look and’ function so helpful (for example, “Hey Meta, look and see what bus number it is”)
- The integration with Be My Eyes is very impressive – I can say “Hey Meta, Be My Eyes” and a volunteer is then looking out your glasses and able to assist. I also like the fact I can have a video call with a friend on my mobile, and hold down the button on the glasses (the camera button) and the caller is then looking out my glasses.
Things I use them for:
- Listening to the news
- Taking voice and video calls (so I don’t need to get my phone out)
- Listening to music or podcasts
- Adding a ‘to do’ to my to do list
- Asking what is on my to do list
- Adding an item to my shopping list
- Asking what is on my shopping list
- Asking how to get somewhere
- Asking the time
- Using “Hey Meta, look and tell me the registration number” to check I am getting into the right car if I order an uber
- Reading a document or poster and interrogating it (for example, “Hey Meta, what time does it start”)
- Reading signposts, for example “Hey Meta, do I turn right or left for the district line” or “Hey Meta, what platform is the train to Epsom going from”
- Sending and reading WhatsApp messages or Facebook messenger messages
- Asking if there are any dogs in the park
- Checking if I have closed the shed door (from inside the house) and other distance tasks
- Taking photos and videos and then either sharing them to WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook, or just saving them to my phone.
The drawbacks
Obviously, for such a new product, there are areas that need some development. My main frustrations are:
- No integration yet with Seeing AI
- They will not describe people (Meta say this is due to GDPR)
- They cannot yet remember people and let me know they are passing/nearby
- I want them to automatically detect things like a bus coming towards me, rather than having to ask if there is a bus
- I wouldn’t trust them for safety critical tasks (such as crossing a road), as with a lot of AI, they do sometimes experience what is known as ‘hallucinations’ – this is where they make stuff up! For example, I asked what vegetables were on a shelf and they said broccoli, I asked if it looked fresh, they said ‘yes, the broccoli looks very fresh’ but there was no broccoli there at all.
- Having to be precise with commands – for example, if I look at a page of writing and say “look and see” or similar, it will give me a summary of the page, if I remember to say “look and read verbatim” it will tell me what it says rather than summarising.
- I would imagine that for some people, the need to use a VPN to download the app will put them off. This will not be necessary in the UK next year (but I couldn’t be that patient!)
- There is not yet capability to dictate an email from the glasses (just WhatsApp and Facebook messenger)
For more information please visit link to Ray-Ban Meta website.
