Facebook’s ambitious venture into the world of smart glasses with “Ray-Ban Stories,” creepy sunglasses with the ability to record video has flopped, with less than 10 percent of the devices being actively used by purchasers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that less than 10 percent of the Ray-Ban Stories smart sunglasses that have been purchased since their September 2021 introduction have been actively utilized by owners, signaling a failure for Facebook’s ambitious foray into the field of smart glasses. Although the company sold 300,000 wearables by the end of February, only approximately 27,000 people used them on a regular basis.
Mark Zuckerberg Meta Selfie (Facebook)
The Ray-Ban smart glasses, which allow users to take photos and listen to music with the frames of their glasses, have faced a series of challenges. According to a company document from February, the device has experienced a 13 percent return rate. According to the WSJ, the top drivers of poor user experience were “issues with connectivity, problems with some of the hardware features including battery life, inability for users to import media from the devices, issues with the audio on the product and problems with voice commands for the smart glasses.”
Despite the initial setbacks, Facebook (now known as Meta) is not backing down. The company is planning to release the second generation of its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses either in the fall or next spring. The new version is expected to come with improved battery life and better cameras, and will be available on more models of Ray-Ban’s frames.
The company’s Reality Labs division, responsible for the Ray-Ban Stories, has accumulated an operating loss of nearly $8 billion in the first six months of 2023. However, Facebook executives see the sunglasses as a predecessor to augmented-reality glasses, which they hope to release in the coming years.
The first generation of the Ray-Ban Stories starts at $299, and two versions of the glasses are currently listed at 30 percent off on the Ray-Ban website. The pricing for the second generation of the product has not been determined.
Facebook’s struggles with the Ray-Ban smart glasses reflect the broader challenges tech companies face in making smart glasses a mainstream product. Other tech giants, including Google, have struggled to make smart glasses, with Google discontinuing its Google Glass product.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan