- Mark Zuckerberg showed off Meta's newest Ray Bans smart glasses.
- In an Instagram video, he used the glasses' AI to guide him through braiding his daughter's hair.
YouTube and TikTok hair tutorials might soon have some competition if Mark Zuckerberg has anything to say about it.
The Facebook cofounder recently showed off his hairstyling abilities with help from Meta's AI tucked within his company's new Ray-Ban smart glasses.
In an Instagram video, Zuckerberg can be seen asking the Ray-Bans, "Hey Meta, how can I make a braid?" Meta's AI then guides him through the steps as he braids his daughter's hair. He then uses the camera on the glasses to take a photo of the braid to send to his wife, Priscilla.
Zuckerberg captioned the photo "Finally learned to braid. Thanks, Meta AI." However, he might want to keep practicing — he noticeably struggled to put the hair tie into the end of the braid, but in all fairness he does say that he's "not the most experienced braider."
Meta's latest line-up of its Ray-Bans smart glasses was first announced in late September at the 2023 Meta Connect. The glasses, which are now available for purchase, can record audio and video and are the company's first smart glasses to include Meta AI. Using your voice, you can ask the AI to answer questions, send photos, or live stream your view directly to Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram. They come in two styles, the $299 Meta Wayfair and the $329 Meta Headliner — both of which are available in various colors and lens options.
Previous versions of the Meta Ray-Bans — which were released in 2021 — also had the ability to record video. They were met with concern that people could use the glasses to record others without their knowledge, something that earlier smart glasses like Google Glass encountered.
Meta's first Ray-Bans smart glasses debuted with a warning light to let people know that the glasses were recording. When a Buzzfeed reporter noted that you could easily cover the warning light, Meta told Buzzfeed that doing so is against the terms of service (but how the company could ever enforce that is another question).
The latest line of Meta smart glasses also come with lights that let onlookers know they're being recorded, blinking when you snap a photo and a solid white light that stays on while you record video.
Meta's new Ray-Bans will be competing directly against Amazon Echo Frames, which are smart glasses that use Alexa and let wearers make phone calls and listen to music or podcasts — but don't include any cameras. Snapchat also came out with its take on smart glasses in 2016, and continues to come out with updated versions. Spectacles include cameras that let users take photos and record videos.