The problem is not new. Google’s augmented reality glasses, Google Glass, were not yet even available to the general public and had already raised this debate on the protection of privacy. A man was arrested by the FBI at the request of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) for watching a film equipped with them. With the recent presentation of the new Ray-Ban smart glasses by Meta the problem returns to the table. In fact, these are $299 connected glasses equipped with cameras that can allow individuals to be filmed without their knowledge. For or against the large-scale adoption of such devices?
Meta’s Ray-Bans reignite controversy over facial recognition
Indeed, large-scale adoption of such devices implies having everyone in the streets equipped with a facial recognition device. The case of China teaches us about possible drives. The Chinese police have already put similar contribution glasses.
The related reports state that this type of glasses is connected to an internal database where the wanted individuals are listed. Its operation is simple: the glasses automate the process of identifying passers-by with great precision. When the police officer looks in one direction, the camera takes precise measurements of the width and depth of the face before comparing them to a database of identified individuals. If there is a match, information such as the person’s name and address will then be sent to the agent.
The use of the latter by the Chinese police made it possible to apprehend seven people linked to criminal cases. In addition, the police used it to unmask 26 people who used false identity cards while traveling. LLVision, the company that develops these glasses, points out that during testing, the system was able to identify individuals from a database of 10,000 people and that it could do so in 100 milliseconds.
Critics have weighed in on the issue, pointing out that giving police officers facial recognition technology in sunglasses could potentially make China’s surveillance state even more pervasive.
More broadly, smart glasses as put forward by Google and other Meta fall into the category of connected devices that are difficult to separate from all fears regarding violation of privacy. The founder and CEO of Kaspersky also emphasizes that the Internet of Things could become the Internet of threats.
However, in some of their fields of application, connected glasses can allow individuals to appear more human.
A team of student researchers from Stanford University has developed a pair of smart glasses capable of displaying the results of OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model. The objective: to give applicants a head start during job interviews or even coach people during romantic dates.
The glasses were made using a monocle-like device that can be attached to virtually any pair of glasses, built and offered by Brilliant Labs. It features a camera, microphone, and a high-resolution screen that can display text generated by GPT-4. OpenAI’s voice recognition software, Whisper, allows the glasses to transmit speech directly to the chatbot, which can respond within seconds to its user.
The device listens to your conversation and tells you exactly what to say next, explains Bryan Hau-Ping Chiang. The painting gives the feeling of the presence of a superior being who listens to conversations and knows how to breathe, relying on him the words necessary to hold a conversation.
Source : Meta
And you ?
For or against the large-scale adoption of connected glasses equipped with cameras?
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