Facebook has recently teamed up with Ray-Ban to create their first pair of augmented reality smart glasses, the Ray-Ban Stories. Reminiscent of the Snapchat Spectacles that released in 2016, these smart glasses have the ability to capture photos and videos and can be controlled hands-free.
Beginning with the design, the smart glasses look like your average pair of Ray-Bans and are available in three different styles: Wayfarer, Round, and Meteor. The smart glasses come equipped with dual 5MP cameras that can be activated by simply saying “Hey Facebook” for capturing first person photo and video footage. The side of the glasses also feature touch controls for music playback, adjusting volume, and a manual capture button for the cameras if you prefer that method. In terms of audio, the frames have discrete open-ear speakers as well as a three microphone array for voice calls and videos. The smart glasses also have on-board storage that can store up to 500+ photos or 30+ 30s videos.
The Ray-Ban Stories come with a compact charging case made out of a leather-like material that charges via USB-C. The charging case supposedly can fully charge the glasses three times. Facebook claims the glasses require around an hour to fully charge and will last for roughly six hours with occasional use. A fully charged pair of glasses can capture and sync up to 50 videos or capture 200 photos.
Of course, the Ray-Ban Stories need to be paired up with a smartphone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and can be controlled through the Facebook View application. The View app acts as the operating system for your glasses and allows you to import and manage your footage, as well as edit and share it with others.
The Facebook/Ray-Ban Stories are available now starting at $299, with polarized lenses being $329, and transition lenses at $379. At the time of writing, the Ray-Ban Stories are only available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, and Australia.