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MSC Cruises is banning smart glasses in common areas (eu.usatoday.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/augmented_reality@lemmy.world
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MSC Cruises is the latest one to ban smart glasses and this may be becoming more and more of a problem for people using them.

Previously in Egypt tourists have reportedly been blocked from going to see the pyramids and some museums there also ban them. Saudi Arabian authorities apparently confiscate them at the airport from arriving passengers. Anyone who needs a prescription needs to consider that they may not be able to use them everywhere.

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[–] 64 points 11 months ago (6 children)

No offense to fans, but good. Last thing we need are more devices recording everything.

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  • [–] 25 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    I'm not really concerned about offending them. Those things have no business being in public spaces.

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  • [–] [S] 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    well I think the strongest case can be made for blind/deaf users that can benefit from the glasses being able to observe on their behalf and give them the information they otherwise could not have auditorily/visually.

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  • [–] 11 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    valid - so we should regulate them like assistive devices and make sure there's a certificates one can show so that exceptions can be made (like bringing a guide dog into a dog-free space)

    furthermore such tools should be ideally democratized and made public but realistically at least in the hands of assistive tool companies as one user with sight loss notes:

    The fact that the technology is backed by Meta means they can switch off that feature at any point. It's not a tech brand made for disability. They could decide they're not supporting it anymore and just turn off the functionality. We've seen that before with other platforms.

    and while i've had moments where ive been "wow it would be so cool to snap a pic right now of a thing i don't have time to pull out my phone for" - the downside of such devices becoming as ubiquitous as smartphones so we end up in an era where everyone has a camera on their face at all times sounds too dystopian to be worth pursuing imo.

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    • [–] 14 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Didn't we already go through this 10 years ago with google glass? Why are we repeating this again? Businesses killed Google glass then and they will kill the meta glass this time.

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    • [–] 11 points 10 months ago

    Holys shit thats..... actually based

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    [–] 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Why don't they put a feature on the glasses where whenever they are recording a red light dot shines and/or blinks so that everyone knows the glasses are recording? There could also be a beep sound played like they do for phone call recording.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 10 months ago

    The Meta glasses do have a blinking LED that signifies that recording is active. It's a white instead of red LED though. It also has a light sensor that is meant to prevent the user from covering the light.

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    • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    ban on items “capable of covertly or discreetly recording or transmitting data"

    This includes phones, headphones and laptops (+ walkmans, dictaphones and string between 2 cups).

    Do they just mean glasses with in built cameras?

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    [+] 4 points 10 months ago (1 child)
    [removed by mod]
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  • [–] [S] 7 points 10 months ago

    I do think a lot of that goes on with phones already but I will say there are certain situations where the person recording can't do it so well with a phone. Such as when they're actively interacting with whoever they want to video.

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    • [+] 1 point 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    These have no AR features. It’s music playback and stealth photo and video capture. That is all.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 10 months ago

    Meta now has a new model that includes a display also. It's arguable whether that technically qualifies as AR but people do tend to look at these as part of the category.

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    So even less capable than Google glass, I see.
    But as far as the stealth photo and video capture goes, what do you do about those little camera/mic on pen type little gadgets? The only difference for them is that they are not sending all that to Meta.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    The only difference for them is that they are not sending all that to Meta.

    That's a pretty significant difference. Plus those devices are more suspicious when pointed at you.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago*

    Plus those devices are more suspicious when pointed at you

    Can't say I agree.
    I have seen one of the pens and it's hard to realise it has a camera. Also, it's probably made for the times when people used to normally keep a pen in their breast-pocket.

    That’s a pretty significant difference.

    For me, honestly that's a good enough difference and I would be fine if someone were just keeping a camera on their head while in public. Although my expectations might change in a shared restroom with urinals.

    Also, would you want a similar response to someone using AR glasses, not made by (and not selling video data to) any corporation?

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