Meta Reportedly Considered Bringing Facial Recognition Support to Its Smart Glasses

Meta recently discussed the addition of a new feature that would allow owners of its smart glasses to identify people near them by scanning their faces, according to a report. The feature is said to be opt-in for users, but those around them would not have a choice. The current Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses flash an LED light when the built-in camera is in use, but it's unclear whether the glasses would provide any indication when facial recognition is in use.

Meta's Smart Glasses Might Not Indicate When Facial Recognition Is Being Used

The Information reports (via Engadget) that Meta previously considered the addition of facial recognition technology to its smart glasses. The feature is said to be based on the Live AI functionality offered by the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, and it is internally referred to as "super sensing", according to the publication.

If Meta were to develop such a feature, it would enable users wearing a pair of its smart glasses to scan the faces of people around them. As per the report, users who are in the vicinity of a person who owns a pair of Meta AI glasses could be identified by name.

While the feature is said to be opt-in for those wearing a pair of Meta's smart glasses, it would be impossible for anyone near them to opt out of having their faces scanned and identified by the company. The report also suggests that Meta considered disabling its camera usage indicator on the glasses when the facial recognition feature is in use.

The camera indicator was added by the company so that people in the vicinity were informed when the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses were used to capture photos or video. However, the LED might not be activated when the facial recognition feature is working, according to the report.

Last year, two Harvard University students developed a technology stack called I-XRAY that was capable of using Meta's smart glasses along with large language models (LLMs), facial recognition searches and public databases to identify their classmates names and where they lived.

In their video demonstrating how I-XRAY was capable of identifying people in real-time, the students revealed how easy it was to use facial recognition while using a pair of smart glasses. While I-XRAY was never released, Meta's decision to build the feature into the glasses could put such a tool in the hands of everyone who owns a pair of its smart glasses.