Meta Expands AI-Powered Ray-Ban Smart Glasses to Europe with Multilingual Support

Meta AI smart glasses say bonjour, hola, and ciao to Europe and new languages

A different kind of Eurovision for fans of the Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses in Ireland, Spain, France, and Italy Meta is doing its part to make 2025 the year of smart glasses by releasing the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses in several European countries. Soon, people in France, Italy, Ireland, and Spain will be able to buy the AI-powered wearables, and the Meta AI assistant will be able to communicate with users in Spanish, French, Italian, and English. "With Meta AI on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, people have a hands-free way to ask questions on-the-go and receive real time answers and information, recommendations, or even receive some creative writing inspiration," Meta described in a blog post. "For example, you can ask, "Hey Meta, what's the best patisserie in Paris?" or "What are some good gift ideas for my kids aged 6 and 8?" and receive an answer instantly. " European locales won't have access to all the features of the smart glasses available in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Specifically, European wearers won't be able to ask Meta AI about what's around them and hear a description of landmarks or events around them, at least for now. In the U.S., you might look at the Statue of Liberty and ask about its history or ask the AI to tell you the species of a plant you see on a hike. That might be a regulatory issue about the smart glasses and their visual processing ability rather than a technical obstacle. This isn't the first time Meta has cited the EU's regulatory environment as a barrier to its feature rollouts. Similar rules slowed the release of the Meta AI assistant across the continent. As the tech giant continues to work with government agencies, more European countries will likely get access to the smart glasses. Still, four new countries and three new languages are a big deal. They extend the potential market enormously, particularly in regions where English is uncommon. Plus, there are an enormous number of countries where Spanish and French are spoken, albeit in many different dialects.

Ray-Ban Meta glasses receive AI features in Europe - Softonic

Spain, France, and Italy will benefit from access to Meta AI through augmented reality glasses Meta has begun implementing artificial intelligence features in its Ray-Ban Meta glasses in Spain, France, and Italy. Starting this week, users in these countries can access the Meta AI assistant with voice commands to answer general questions, such as gift suggestions or curiosities. This launch includes support in Spanish, French, and Italian, in addition to the already available English. Since their launch in September 2023, Meta claims to have worked to ensure that the glasses comply with strict European regulations. According to a statement on its blog, the company is excited about this advancement and promises to expand the availability of the features to more countries on the continent soon. However, the glasses in Europe do not yet include certain multimodal capabilities available in the United States, Canada, and Australia, such as identifying elements in the environment using the camera. Meta claims to be working to offer this functionality in more regions in the future. Compliance with laws is one of the major headaches for Meta, especially due to the EU AI Act and certain provisions of the GDPR related to the use of data to train artificial intelligence models. The company has trained its models using public data from Instagram and Facebook, even from users who have not opted out, which has led to ongoing tensions with European regulators. At the beginning of the year, authorities requested Meta to stop training with European user data while they assessed its compliance with the GDPR. Meta complied with the request, but also promoted a public debate on the need to update the interpretation of the GDPR to adapt to technological development. In September, Meta resumed training with UK user data after making adjustments, and has already deployed some AI functionalities in seven European countries, now expanding its reach with the Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

Meta brings certain AI features to Ray-Ban Meta glasses in | TechCrunch

After a brief delay, Meta says that it's begun to roll out certain AI features to users of its Ray-Ban Meta AR glasses in France, Italy, and Spain. Starting today, people in those countries can invoke Meta's AI assistant, Meta AI, using their voice to get answers to general questions (e.g. "What are some good gift ideas for my kids aged 6 and 8?"). Meta AI now supports French, Italian, and Spanish in addition to English as part of the update, Meta says. "Since we launched in September 2023, we have been diligently working to ensure that Ray-Ban Meta glasses comply with Europe's complex regulatory system," the company wrote in a blog post. "We are excited to begin bringing Meta AI and its innovative features to parts of the EU and look forward to expanding to more European countries soon." The upgrade won't include multimodal features available on Ray-Ban Meta glasses in the U.S., Canada, and Australia -- namely the ability to get answers to questions about what's in view of the glasses' camera (e.g. "Tell me more about this landmark"). Meta says it's working to bring multimodality to more countries "in the future." Meta has previously expressed concerns about its ability to comply with the AI Act, the EU law that establishes a legal and regulatory framework for AI -- calling the law's implementation "too unpredictable." Also at issue for the company are provisions in the GDPR, the EU's privacy law, pertaining to AI training. Meta trains AI models, including the models that power features of its Ray-Ban Meta glasses, on the public data of Instagram and Facebook users who haven't opted out -- data that in Europe is subject to GDPR guarantees. EU regulators earlier this year requested that Meta halt training on European user data while they assessed the company's GDPR compliance. Meta relented, while at the same time endorsing an open letter calling for "a modern interpretation" of GDPR that doesn't "reject progress." In early fall, Meta said that it would resume training on U.K. user data after "[incorporating] regulatory feedback" into a revised opt-out process. But the company has yet to share an update on training throughout the bloc.

Meta Launches AI-Powered Ray-Bans for Users in Europe | PYMNTS.com

Meta AI says its Ray-Ban smartglasses are now available in four European countries. Beginning Monday (Nov. 18), users in France, Spain, Ireland and Italy can use these artificial intelligence (AI)-powered glasses to get answers to questions, with those responses now available in French, Italian and Spanish, as well as in English. "With Meta AI on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, people have a hands-free way to ask questions on-the-go and receive real time answers and information, recommendations, or even receive some creative writing inspiration," the company said in a news release. For instance, users can ask, "Hey Meta, what's the best patisserie in Paris?" or "What are some good gift ideas for my kids aged 6 and 8?" and instantly get an answer. Features that rely on Meta AI's ability to answer questions about what the user can see ("Tell me about this landmark") are only available in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Meta noted that it will expand the sale the glasses to other parts of the European Union soon, and that it has been working to ensure the product complies "with Europe's complex regulatory system." The rollout comes as the tech giant -- like many of its contemporaries -- faces ongoing regulatory pressure in Europe. Last week, the European Commission fined Meta 797.72 million euros (about $842 million), saying the company had broken European Union (EU) antitrust rules by tying Facebook Marketplace to Facebook. The commission found that Meta gave its online classified ads service a significant advantage over its rivals by automatically giving the users of its social network access to it, whether they want it or not. Meta has said it will appeal the decision, while also working to comply with the issues raised by the EC. The company last week said it was promoting its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses at a Meta Lab pop-up store in Los Angeles that allows visitors to experience the product firsthand, regardless of whether they end up making a purchase. "When you let somebody try out a pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, you become the best salesperson ever," Creative Director Matt Jacobson said in a blog post. "Getting these on people's faces so they could play with it and discover Meta AI, that is really magical." In another, separate development in this space, this month saw reports that Apple was exploring the viability of entering the smart glasses market, launching an in-house study of currently available products.