#Facebook launching ‘smart internet glasses’ this year

Facebook will launch a pair of “connected” glasses very soon this year.

The smart specs have been teased previous, but largely remain a mystery.

Despite suffering major privacy scandals in the past, Facebook hopes it can convince everyday folk to don a pair of web-connected glasses.

Facebook still won’t say exactly what these smart spectacles will do.

But the company confirmed that the first version won’t support proper augmented reality,” as revealed by Bloomberg.

That means you won’t see computer-generated images overlaid on top of your regular vision.

However, it’s possible that Facebook may still build in some kind of signal or alert feature to the glasses.

“These are certainly connected glasses,” said Facebook hardware boss Andrew Bosworth.

“They are certainly providing a lot of functionality.

“[But] we’re being quite coy about which functionality precisely we are providing.

“We’re excited about it but don’t want to over-hype it.

We’re not even calling it augmented reality, we’re just calling it ‘smart glasses’.”

The company is building the glasses with specs giant Ray-Ban, and its parent firm Luxottica Group SpA.

Facebook first confirmed that it would be creating a pair of AR glasses back in 2017.

And the firm’s VR and AR division employs several thousand people.

But the first version of the glasses will miss out on some AR features – though we don’t know exactly what.

It’s possible that one feature might include a camera.

Bosworth hinted: “By the time you get the phone up, not only have you probably missed it, but if you don’t miss it, you’re probably watching the real event but through your phone.

“If you have the right technology, it can get out of the way.”

Snapchat famously released several versions of smart camera glasses, to limited success.

Facebook is a better-known brand however, and may have better luck.