• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

As Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses face widespread concerns with regard to privacy and the product’s undetected recording abilities, the tech giant is reportedly planning to launch a pair of smart glasses without a camera. 

According to The Information, Meta will be ready to ship its new camera-less model -- called “Luna” -- to consumers as early as next month, following its potential unveiling at the company’s Connect developer conference on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24. 

The Luna glasses are expected to be available in two styles -- “Clubmaster”and “Burbank” -- which feature six built-in microphones and speakers similar to current models.

By removing the cameras, the glasses’ arms may be smaller and more indicative of frames on non-AI-powered glasses.

Despite selling over 7 million pairs of Ray-Ban smart glasses last year and expanding across other EssilorLuxottica-owned brands, Meta’s most recent AI glasses have encountered a global backlash, and have been called “creep glasses” and “pervert glasses” because of their ability for users to secretly record others.

Earlier this month, His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), which resides over the courts in England and Wales, said that Meta glasses would be confiscated from people entering its judicial buildings. New York also banned Meta glasses in courthouses. 

Meta and EssilorLuxottica are facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that both companies “captured, stored, and transmitted users’ private audiovisual data through the companies’ AI-enabled ‘Meta AI Glasses’ without disclosure or owners’ consent.”

In response to the backlash, Meta has worked to disable recording functionality for thousands of users who were found to have tampered with the LED light designed to let others know they are being recorded.

The company also deleted a “NameTag” face-recognition feature from the Meta AI app following an investigative report from Wired.

Now, Meta is reportedly scrapping the ability to record and take photos all together from its newest AI-powered glasses model.