Mark Zuckerberg said Meta had already been developing a version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses without a camera before criticism of the camera-equipped model took hold, Business Insider reports. The product line drew the label "pervert glasses" from critics concerned about people recording others without their knowledge.
According to Business Insider, Zuckerberg's comments frame the camera-free design as work that predated the backlash rather than a response to it. Meta has since introduced Ray-Ban Meta Audio alongside additional AI glasses styles, per the company's own announcement.
The privacy objections sit alongside a broader push by Meta into AI hardware. The company is leaning further into artificial intelligence and smart glasses despite the pushback, Dawn reports, and it has also unveiled a separate AI gadget called "Muse Charm," according to The News International, described as an effort to move beyond smartphones and smart glasses.
The BBC has covered the same question now facing the camera-free model: whether removing the lens will change how the glasses are perceived. That framing suggests the reputational problem Meta is trying to address is tied specifically to recording capability, not to the glasses themselves.
What to watch next: whether Meta shares pricing, a release date, or further detail on the camera-free Ray-Ban model, and whether the audio-only version draws a different reaction from privacy advocates than the original.
