The addition of the facial recognition feature in the smart glasses is still up for debate and the company will consider legal ramifications
Facebook is all set to launch its AR smart glasses with facial recognition technology, a move that is bound to raise a lot of concern. The social media giant first announced its plan to launch these glasses in 2017 but has remained mostly quiet about the project since then. Facial recognition controversy has been around for Facebook as settled a class-action lawsuit, promising to pay $650 million to users for allegedly creating and storing scans of their faces using facial recognition tech in its photo-tagging feature without their consent.
A debate in the public domain
Andrew Bosworth, vice president of augmented and virtual reality at Facebook, said that the glasses would work well without the facial recognition which would add a little more to them. He said that the debate of whether the feature should be included or not is one that needs to take place in the public domain. He also said that the legal ramification will need to be taken into account before a decision is made on the matter.
A normal looking pair of smart glasses?
Facebook is partnering with Ray-Ban parent company Luxottica to make its smart glasses, which will supposedly look fairly similar to regular high-end glasses. They will be without the bulky AR headsets that are currently available, with the ability to superimpose digital objects in the field of view. This change can put the Facebook glasses in higher demand compared with the competitors such as Google.
Is the future here?
Cellular technologies and the internet have joined forces to bring about some very unlikely technological advancements in recent years. With the arrival of gadgets like smartwatches and smart glasses, technology continues to push limits. The arrival of normal-looking glasses with smart features will push it even further. In a few years’ time, smart glasses may be the new normal, much like carrying a smartphone is nowadays.