According to a report by the Financial Times, the glasses capture images every few seconds while continuously recording audio. Users can later ask AI to search through what they have seen or heard, or reconstruct events from their day using text or voice commands.
Current Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses feature an LED indicator that lights up whenever photos or videos are being captured, alerting people nearby. However, the report says Meta is considering disabling this indicator when the Super Sensing feature is active, increasing concerns about recording people without their knowledge.
Engineers are also discussing a system where neither Meta nor the user would keep the original photos or audio recordings. Instead, the glasses would extract descriptive metadata and send it to Meta's servers, allowing AI to answer questions and search memories without storing the raw content. Supporters argue this approach could reduce privacy risks.
Meta is also exploring whether the data collected by the glasses could be used to train its AI models as it competes with companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic in the race to develop advanced artificial intelligence.
The report suggests these capabilities could arrive on existing Ray-Ban Meta glasses through a software update, without requiring new hardware. However, the project is still under development and may change before any official release.
Privacy experts have warned that always-on devices could conflict with data protection and biometric privacy laws. They may also create legal issues in countries and U.S. states where recording conversations without the consent of all parties is prohibited.
The report also notes that current Ray-Ban Meta glasses do not display a visible indicator when AI is analyzing the surrounding environment. Meta says it removes key identifying information to help protect people's privacy.
Earlier reports in February revealed that Ray-Ban Meta glasses included an inactive facial recognition feature, which Meta later decided to remove.
Meanwhile, Apple is expected to launch its first smart glasses in 2027, featuring cameras, microphones, AI-powered photo and video capture, live translation, and navigation assistance. However, they are not expected to support augmented reality, and Apple's approach to handling user privacy remains unclear.