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One of the biggest fantasies – and fears – in the world of science fiction The world of smart glasses It’s the idea of looking across a room, seeing someone, and instantly recognizing who they are. And remember the last time you met them. And who knows what else.
The line between fantasy and reality, fantasy and nightmare, is often pushed to the extreme in new technology. Meta, the largest maker of smart glasses at the moment, is apparently on pace to introduce facial recognition into its glasses, according to a report. New report from the New York Times Which reflects the reports The information was written last year.
Facial recognition in Meta is not just a “if”, but a “when”.
While the company says the goal is to use the technology for ancillary purposes, an internal company memo from 2025 cited in the Times story points to our current “dynamic political environment” as a good scene to launch a controversial feature like facial recognition, claiming that “many of the civil society groups we expect to attack us will focus their resources on other concerns.”
This sentiment alone is deeply troubling and unsurprising for a company like Meta, which has been at the center of privacy scandals more than once. If facial recognition technology like this makes it to smart glasses — and I expect it will — it will need to be handled with strict measures of control and responsibility. Sliding into a chaotic political landscape for the first time, hoping to go unnoticed—or disorganized—is the worst possible outcome.
When CNET asked Meta for comment, Meta’s communications team responded: “We build products that help millions of people connect and enrich their lives. While we’re hearing a lot about interest in this type of feature — and some products are already on the market — we’re still considering the options and will take a thoughtful approach if and before we launch anything.”
Watch this: My Life with Meta Ray-Ban Screens: A Strange Wild Future
Is facial recognition with glasses inevitable?
There’s nothing “inevitable” about technology, but even so, I don’t see a way that facial recognition won’t come on glasses to some extent sooner or later. Although there are no smart glasses that currently have facial recognition capabilities, it is entirely possible to do so.
AI can already recognize faces in photos, and some of our phone apps have been using the technology to sort through our photo libraries for years. The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, which has been widely criticized for its harsh tactics, He’s already using it In software via Clearview AI and Mobile Fortify without public consent. Two students hacked a method Make Meta Glasses do it In 2024.
Facial recognition has been possible for a long time. CNET published a Feature pack on this topic in 2019. It’s the consent and privacy parts that I’m thinking about. Our brains already have facial recognition capabilities, but we don’t share that brain data with others. If a technology company has the ability to recognize and classify faces, will this functionality be limited to personal and private access, or will it be shared with government agencies or within the company itself?
It’s an idea already embedded in the metaphor of Facebook, a company named after the little student booklets in colleges that list who’s in a particular class, and Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook app is essentially a mobile digital identification tool. A pair of glasses that can do the same thing and speed up recognition and communication seems like a natural bridge.
Meta Ray-Ban’s second-generation (or third-generation if you count stories) glasses are getting a major battery boost. Always-on AI modes can get better every year.
Boundaries are needed now
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dream of having something like this in my life, getting to know people at parties and conferences, or having my aging brain help determine how I knew someone. But this kind of power needs limits.
According to a Times report, Meta may limit facial recognition to people you’re already connected to on Facebook. It will probably also let you know if someone else is on Facebook, or if it’s someone you don’t know, but it won’t tell you who they are. maybe.
I’m thinking of connecting protocols like AirDrop, which have limits on sharing. You can leave AirDrop open and public, limit it to personal contacts, or set a 10-minute window. The future of facial recognition wearables will need to limit consent to whether someone wants to be recognized, as well as allow bubbles around personal networks, locations or time periods. Maybe it works at a networking dinner conference, then deactivates later when I’m alone at the hotel.
Facial recognition tools could be a big help for visually impaired communities, which the Times report also acknowledges. In fact, Meta was planning to debut these facial recognition modes, possibly called Name Tag, at a conference for the blind.
A friend of mine’s father uses Meta vision aid glasses daily, and they really provide great benefits for assistive needs. But where will the line be drawn between assistance and surveillance, and how will privacy be managed?
A white LED lights up when the glasses are registered. There is also a camera shutter sound. Both are subtle, but still easy to miss.
Will we even know it’s happening?
Reports from The Times and The Information discuss Meta’s plans for a kind of “super-sensing” AI awareness that’s always on using cameras, which is already possible to a limited degree now. Live AI modes It can be played on Meta smart glasses, etc Upcoming Google GlassBut the limitation is battery life. Currently, these modes can only work for an hour on a charge. But these limits will likely be extended as battery life and software improve.
Would you know that the glasses work with scanning? It is already difficult to know when inconspicuous indicator lights are on and working, and the glasses are not widespread enough or designed consistently to build public awareness of indicator lights. In my own experience, most people who see my smart glasses nervously and jokingly wonder if I’m recording. They don’t really know.
These limits and protocols must be worked out, because there may come a time — very soon, in fact — when glasses will be able to do that, and much more. One approach would be to legislate limits or bans on how much these glasses can do. Another solution is to have technology companies figure out these responsibilities now. Meta might push the door down soon enough.
With Google coming up next with glasses, and AI becoming more capable every month, widespread facial recognition is becoming less likely than it is to happen. It’s going to be a race on among smart glasses makers to differentiate themselves with new features, and with Meta’s penchant for improving smart glasses sales as its hot hand, facial recognition will likely be one of the next magic tricks ready to be put in its pockets.