Meta - formerly Facebook - teams up with Ray-Ban for Stories sunglasses

Facebook is trying its hand at sunglasses with integrated cameras. The Ray-Ban Stories can be voice-activated to start recording video or take a photo which could make it a bit easier to snap a POV shot of your handlebar as you ride through town.

Sunglasses with cameras or tech in them aren’t new. Google Glass was weird, Snapchat’s effort was better and we even reviewed the £700 Everysight Raptor. Now Ray-Ban has teamed up with Meta to launch the Stories sunglasses. The point is that you can snap pictures and take 30-second videos without having to get your phone out or look at a screen.

Beside the right-hand camera is a small LED that informs people that you are recording video and that camera can be activated with a press of a button on top of the right-hand arm.

On the left arm, you get a second camera and this gets activated when you take a photo. It is there to add depth to the picture and with both cameras needing to be rather small, the 5MP quality is likely to be just about good enough for sharing on social media.

> Engo Eyewear unveils smart sunglasses with lenses displaying real-time data

The sunglasses have 4GB of internal storage, but the idea is that you’d be recording a small video for Facebook stories, YouTube Shorts, Instagram stories or any of the other quick video sharing platforms. As such, the sunglasses will sync to an app called Facebook View. From here, you can download the content to your phone and then share it on whatever platform you use.

Facebook, having the reputation that it does, has stated that the content that you capture is not used to deliver personalised ads.

Ray-Ban says that built-in Bluetooth and a 3-microphone audio array allow you to listen to your favourite media, music, or podcast from any app on your phone and take calls - all from the glasses.

They also say that last month saw a roll-out of new capabilities including the ability to send messages, hear message readouts, make calls (via Facebook Messenger), and control volume or pause and resume the audio you're listening to.

The Facebook/Ray-Ban Stories sunglasses come in Round, Wayfarer and Meteor styles with different lenses available for each. The price is a cool £329 and you can add a prescription lens, though this does hike the price depending on what you need.

Can you see these having a useful place on your bike rides? Suggestions in the comments below, please.

ray-ban.com