Facial recognition might be coming to smart glasses, courtesy of Meta
The line between convenience and surveillance just got blurrier.
Imagine walking down the street and, with a glance, your glasses reveal a stranger's name, address, and social media profiles. It sounds like a scene from a sci-fi movie, but recent developments suggest this could soon be a reality.
Meta is reportedly working on integrating facial recognition into its Ray-Ban smart glasses after the feature didn't make it to the first version of the glasses, largely due to privacy concerns surrounding facial recognition technology.
However, Meta seems to have worked out the kink and is planning to roll out the feature. Internally dubbed "super sensing," this feature would allow users to identify people around them by scanning their faces.
According to reports, the facial recognition feature will be built upon the company's "Live AI" technology, which can be found in its latest smart glasses. Live AI is able to scan objects, items, and places, then provide information to the user via audio response or through the dedicated Meta AI app.
While Meta claims the feature will be opt-in for users, there’s a major catch: those being scanned won’t have the ability to opt out.
Another concern is that Meta's glasses flash an LED when the camera is recording, signalling to others that recording is taking place, but reports suggest that the indicator might not light up during facial recognition. If true, people would be unaware that their identities are being captured and analysed.
Kelechi Edeh
That being said, the whole facial recognition integration into glasses isn't just theoretical or new; it's been successfully done before. In 2024, two Harvard students developed "I-XRAY," a system that combines Meta's smart glasses with facial recognition software and public databases to identify individuals in real-time.
Google also tried its luck with smart glasses a while ago, with its now-defunct Glass project. Unfortunately, that failed woefully, mostly due to backlash over privacy concerns.
Now, Meta's exploration with facial recognition in smart glasses reignites those debates. The company, however, isn't new to facing scrutiny over privacy and security, and argues that the feature would enhance user experience.
In my opinion, incorporating facial recognition into everyday devices blurs the line between convenience and surveillance. As technology advances, it's important to balance innovation with ethical considerations, ensuring that privacy isn't sacrificed in the name of progress.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
