Ray-Ban Stories are Facebook's answer to Snapchat Spectacles (Updated)

Update, September 9, 2021 (12:35 PM ET): In the article below, we give leaked information about what ended up being Ray-Ban Stories, the first smart glasses from Facebook. Ray-Ban and Facebook have now officially launched the product with a starting price of $299.

As expected, the smart glasses have two cameras that work together to give you an easy way to capture video content. While the video quality will be sub-par compared to most phones these days, that’s not the point. The idea is to give you an easy, hands-free way to capture fleeting moments.

Ray-Ban Stories cost $299 for the regular version. You can upgrade to polarized lenses for $329 and transition lenses for $379. You can also get them fitted with prescription lenses if that’s something you need.

The original article pertaining to the leak of this product continues below.

Original article, September 9, 2021 (02:39 AM ET): Facebook has been talking up its smart glasses project for quite a while, with more details finally coming through at the beginning of this year. We knew that Luxottica Group’s Ray-Ban is involved and that the glasses would be “connected.” Now, leaked renders have emerged just prior to the official reveal detailing the smart glasses’ designs.

The images stem from serial leaker Evan Blass and showcase Facebook and Ray-Ban’s smart glasses in at least three styles. These include classic Ray-Ban frames, Wayfarer and Round, with green, blue, and tinted lenses.

Each frame also has a camera mounted in the top-left and top-right positions above the lenses. The specs of these cameras are unclear at present. The glasses also arrive in a case, complete with what appears to be a charging cable, too. This suggests the glasses carry batteries to power the cameras and connectivity smarts to presumably relay images back to a smartphone. The hardware for this could be stored within the glasses’ thicker frames.

What can Facebook and Ray-Ban’s smart glasses do?

Facebook has remained pretty vague on the smart glasses’ feature set. In January, it told Bloomberg that the glasses would provide “a lot of functionality” but wouldn’t feature any augmented reality smarts. In the same report, Facebook hints that the smart glasses would allow users to record fleeting moments without reaching for a phone, similar to Snapchat’s Spectacles. Facebook is reportedly still working on AR glasses, but it’s unclear when they’ll arrive.

According to a teaser from Ray-Ban, the smart glasses will see an official announcement later today. Expect more details on pricing and availability shortly.