You’ll Never Be A Lost Tourist Again With Ray-Ban Meta’s Smart Glasses

 

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International travel is back with a vengeance, with overall travel bookings rising steadily from 2023 to 2024. However, a Booking.com survey of over 20,000 travellers shows that this may come with location-related limitations. 26% cited apprehensiveness with unfamiliar locations holding them back from visiting some countries. This insight is supported by the results of a What3Words survey, which discovered that 72% of respondents reported getting lost while on holiday – and that over 50% spent over an hour trying to locate their destination. 

However, with multi-purpose smart wearables like glasses, fears of becoming a lost tourist may soon be relegated to the past. 

What are smart glasses?

Smart glasses are wearable devices that combine the functionality of traditional eyewear with advanced technology, such as augmented reality (AR) displays, cameras, and sensors. These glasses can overlay digital information onto the wearer’s field of view, providing real-time data, notifications, and interactive experiences. Smart glasses enable hands-free interaction with digital content, allowing users to access information, make calls, navigate, and perform other tasks without needing to use their hands or a separate device.

With various applications in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and entertainment, smart glasses offer a futuristic and convenient way to enhance productivity and experience digital content seamlessly. That’s clearly been recognised by consumers, who helped drive the global market value of the smart glasses industry to around $1.2 billion in 2022, around £960 million.

What are Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses?

The first collaboration between tech giant Meta and legendary eyewear brand Ray-Ban came in 2021 with the introduction of Ray-Ban Stories. This saw the smart glasses technology incorporated into the popular Ray-Ban sunglasses Wayfarer models. They’ve since introduced a new generation version of this product and continue to launch new features that jetsetters and explorers can leverage. Meta’s new limited-access feature allows wearers to see descriptions of tourist spots worldwide. This small pool of beta users can now look in the direction of a world-famous site or even a locally loved landmark—and receive context and details while looking at the place in real time. For tourists, this serves an educational and practical purpose: they learn more about a place. They can use key landmarks to determine their location, minimizing the odds of getting lost.

As this new feature is being refined, it’s only available to users in Meta’s early access program. But not to worry—the new-gen Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses pack plenty of features to enhance your travel experience and ensure you don’t get lost in an unfamiliar location again.

Existing features

 

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Hands-free smart wearables are gaining traction among first adopters and mainstream tech users alike. One particular brand leading the charge is Ray-Ban, whose partnership with Meta has created innovations beneficial for always-on-the-go individuals. 

Ray-Ban’s line of smart glasses comes with an ultra-wide 12 MP camera, a five-mic system for immersive photo and video documentation, and the ability to livestream directly to Facebook and Instagram. In addition, the Meta Wayfarers don’t just boast its iconic legacy silhouette; it also features communication functionalities that can help travellers find their way. In busy or theft-prone environments, travellers using smart glasses can use voice commands to call or message hotel staff or travel companions for assistance without pulling out a phone. That’s not all these glasses can do in terms of navigation-adjacent features.

Future applications 

 

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In December 2023, the smart glasses received a new beta AI upgrade that enables the glasses to understand more commands and handle more complex tasks. Mark Zuckerberg’s demonstration of the multimodal AI showed the smart glasses translating a meme from Spanish to English. This is ideal for lost travellers struggling to decipher foreign-language signs on streets and train stations to find their way. 

According to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, the companies are working on expanding the AI function to provide real-time information, which would allow travellers to ask general location-based questions. By making queries like, “Which street is this restaurant located in?” or “What is the English name for this tourist spot?” tourists can gain additional context and information to understand where they are and how to get out. Some travellers may be uncomfortable asking locals for help, especially when language barriers come into the equation. This feature would enable them to navigate and solve problems independently.

With convenient features already available and many more rolling out soon, it’s clear that the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are a must for travellers. Whether you’re a solo adventurer who wants to challenge yourself in a different culture and language or an experienced traveller who enjoys the peace of mind a smart wearable provides, you can look forward to more exciting upgrades in the future

If you enjoyed this article, you might also find value in our recent piece titled What’s Next for TravelTech? featuring key industry insights from Riversoft CEO Alex Kuo.