Intelligent lenses: Facebook gives the technology a chance that made Google look bad

SAN FRANCISCO — Hace poco, después de una caminata de cinco kilómetros por el parque nacional Presidio, me encontré con una multitud de turistas que miraban el puente Golden Gate. Mientras la gente sacaba fotos del monumento, decidí unirme a ellos.

However, instead of looking for my iPhone in my pocket, I hit the side of my Ray-Ban sun lenses until I heard the click of a shutter.Later, I downloaded on my phone the photos that had just taken my dark lenses.

The process was instantaneous, simple and discreet, and was carried out through Facebook, which was associated with Ray-Ban.Your new lens line, called Ray-Ban Stories, presented on September 9, can take photos, record videos, answer phone calls, and play music and podcasts.

I felt dragged into an inevitable future dreamed by people much more technological than me, in which the limits between the real world and the technology that support it disappeared.

For years, Silicon Valley has gone to a vision similar to that of a novel by William Gibson, in which sensors and cameras are won in everyday life and clothes of billions of people.However, technological companies that have tried to carry out these ideas have often failed, as people have rejected clothing technology computers, especially in the face.

Do you remember the Google Glass device, the intelligent lenses that Google co -founder Sergey Brin presented while jumping from a plane?That project failed, and at one point the bars of San Francisco prohibited the entry of those who used the glasses glasses, also pejoratively known as "Glassholes".Later the Snap spectacles arrived, smart lenses that focused more on fashion and the novelty of recording ten second videos.That product could not break through.

Now, Facebook intends to inaugurate an era in which people feel more comfortable sharing their lives digitally, starting with what they have in front.

"We wonder how we could create a product that helps people live the moment," said Andrew Bosworth, director of Facebook Reality Labs, in an interview."Isn't it better than having to get the cell phone and hold it in front of your face every time you want to capture a moment?".

Bosworth rejected the claims that Facebook was taking up what others had left behind."The product has not been tested before because we had never had a design like this," he said, and added that Facebook and Ray-Ban focused more on the fashion of the lenses than in the technology inside the frames.

"The lenses are a very specific category that changes the way of looking," said Rocco Basilico, director of Poebable Technology in Luxottica, owner of Ray-Ban, who wants to expand in the market for peaceful technology."We start this product from design, and we refuse to compromise that design".

Let's be realistic for a moment.The new lenses, whose initial price is $ 299 and comes in more than twenty styles, face obstacles apart from the intermittent history of Silicon Valley and smart lenses.Facebook has been facing questions for a long time for the way it manages the personal data of the users.The use of lenses to furtively film people is a matter of concern, and not to mention what Facebook could do with the videos that are recorded.

I asked if the past of the Facebook brand was the reason why its name was not in the lens brand.The company said it was not the case.

"Facebook is not naive at the fact that other smart lenses have failed in the past," said Jeremy Greenberg, a political advisor to the future of privacy, a non -profit organization partially financed by Facebook.But, he added, "the public's privacy expectations have changed since the launches of the previous smart lenses".

With all that in mind, I tried the new Facebook Ray-Ban for a few days ago.

When examining them closely, I discovered that the frames have two cameras, two tiny speakers, three microphones and a Snapdragon processor.They also come with a load case that connects to any computer using a USB-C cable.With a complete load, the lenses can be used approximately for six hours.

The lenses require a Facebook account.They are also linked to an application for smartphones: Facebook View.After recording videos - the lenses can record up to 35 videos of 30 seconds or take 500 photos - users can upload their content wirelessly to the application, where the photographs are encrypted.From Facebook View, users can share content on their social networks or messaging applications, as well as save photos directly in the phone memory without having contact with the social network.

To avoid privacy problems, a small light indicator turns on when the glasses are recording, notifying users who are being photographed or filmed.When configuring the Facebook View application, indications are also shown that ask users to "respect those around them" and ask them if "they think appropriate" take a picture or video at that time.The application even invites users to "make a small demonstration" to show others that they are recording them.

However, users may have other doubts, as happened to me.The glasses have an audio activation function, called Facebook Assistant, which can be activated to take photos and videos with hands -free saying: "Hey, Facebook".

For me, that was a friction point.What will people think about me when they hear me say "Hey, Facebook, take a photo"?Will I look good doing that?I think nobody looks good doing that.

In addition, to help Facebook improve the wizard, users are asked to store transcripts of their voice interactions, which will then be reviewed by a mixture of humans and automatic learning algorithms.I did not like it, and I imagine that others will not like, however benign their voice interactions are.

(It is possible to choose not to use the assistant, and users can see and eliminate their transcripts if they wish).

Many of these concerns about privacy are not important for technologists who see dress technology (wearables in English) as something inexorable for society.For Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook executive director, the final objective is to finally launch a couple of smart lenses that totally increase reality, which puts a kind of virtual overlap in the world in front of people.

This idea is another step on the road to metaverso, the term of Zuckerberg to refer to how parts of the virtual and real world will end up merging and sharing different parts from each other.Maybe one day you can use augmented Facebook reality lenses to ask for a digital hat for me, that other people carrying augmented reality lenses can see.

During my walk on Saturday, I could distinguish that vision of the future that excites Facebook executives so much.

Going down the numerous paths of the Presidio Park gave me dazzling views that I could photograph using only my voice, while I had the strap of my dog and with the other loaded my backpack.Capture the urban landscape was as easy as emitting a voice order while my cell phone was still in my pocket.

And what is better, it seemed a normal guy with sunglasses, and not someone who has a rare computer in the face.

An added advantage was that nobody (except my dog) could hear me say "hey, facebook", when I was alone on the paths.But in the city, surrounded by people, I confess that I might just press the mount button to take photos.

Mike Isaac is a technology reporter and author of Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber, which has been on the list of NYT's best selling about the dramatic promotion and fall of the passenger transport company.Regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley, and is based in the Bureau of San Francisco del Times.@Mikeisaac