Meta Glasses: A mainstream accessible wearable

Perhaps the most notable feature for blind people is the Look And Tell feature. This does exactly what it says: your Meta Glasses will take a photo of what you’re looking at, and provide a description.

You can simply ask it to look and tell you about what’s in front of you, or give more specific prompts such as asking it to read any text. For example, you could say ‘look and read this letter’ and it will read it out loud. Some examples of when you might use this feature include to identify products, to obtain descriptions of clothing, to read letters you’ve received in the post, and to identify signs when out and about.

Once the glasses have given you a description, you can ask follow-up questions. For example, you may receive a letter in the post about an upcoming appointment. You can ask the glasses specific questions like the time of your appointment and if there is a phone number you can call. Bear in mind that Meta can’t call a number it’s just read. If you want the glasses to call the number, you’ll need to make a note of the number, and ask the glasses to call it as a separate prompt.

There’s a setting you can enable in the Meta AI app: Detailed Responses. When you enable this, your glasses will provide more detailed descriptions and responses when you ask it about your surroundings.

Important: Avoid prompts like Take A Photo before asking it to look and tell. If you ask your glasses to take a photo, it

will then save to your gallery. If you want the glasses to take a photo to have something described to you, simply asking it to look at what’s in front of you will mean the glasses will take a photo for description purposes only. You can still look at your Look And Tell history through the Meta AI app, but the photos won’t be in your gallery.

You may already be familiar with Be My Eyes. It’s the service that connects blind people with sighted volunteers who give visual assistance remotely through being able to see through the camera.

Be My Eyes has been available on smartphones since 2015. In 2024, Be My Eyes came to the Meta Glasses, opening up even more possibilities with hands-free access to Be My Eyes.

You can call Be My Eyes directly from the glasses with a simple command.

You will first need to link your Meta account and Be My Eyes account. Once you’ve done that, just say ‘Hey Meta, Be My Eyes’ and the glasses will call a volunteer for you, and the volunteer will be able to see what your glasses camera is capturing.

It’s also very easy to switch between your glasses and your smartphone during a Be My Eyes call. During the call, simply double tapping the capture button will switch between your smartphone camera and glasses camera. Switching between the phone and glasses works whether you initiated the call from your glasses or smartphone.

While this isn’t a feature specifically for people with sight loss, the ability to call family and friends through mainstream services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and share the view from your glasses, can help people with sight loss. For example, you may call someone you trust through the Meta Glasses to get support with picking out an outfit, or for support with more sensitive information that a Be My Eyes volunteer or Meta AI can’t assist with.

To switch to the glasses camera during a call, double press the capture button. The glasses will make a sound and also confirm verbally that the glasses camera is active. When you double press the capture button again, this will switch back to your phone camera. The glasses will play a sound, but this time there will be no verbal confirmation.

In case you didn’t know, Aira is a service that allows blind people to connect with professionally trained visual interpreters via video call through a smartphone app.

While there isn’t an official Aira-Meta integration, Aira has developed a workaround that makes accessing the service using the Meta Glasses possible.

When you make an Aira call, let the visual interpreter know that you want to use your Meta Glasses during the call. You can do this by selecting Customise Call from the home screen of the Aira app, toggling the Meta Glasses option to on, and then selecting Make A Call.

This will connect you with a visual interpreter who is able to support you through the Meta Glasses. When you’re ready, the visual interpreter will connect with you on WhatsApp. When you join that call, you will then be communicating with the visual interpreter through the WhatsApp call. Double press the capture button on your glasses so the visual interpreter can see the view from your glasses, like you would during any WhatsApp call.

We’ve already mentioned this, but one of the biggest pros of the Meta Glasses is that they’re a mainstream product. We’re huge fans of mainstream technology here at Henshaws, so we’re very impressed to see such a mainstream wearable have so many benefits. It also means you’re not going to stand out when wearing them. Wearing the Meta Glasses is just like wearing any glasses.

On top of that, mainstream means a mainstream price point. Most assistive technology that helps blind people is on the expensive side, but the Meta Glasses are a mainstream price point. The price varies depending on the type of lenses you want, but the Meta Glasses are more affordable than most assistive technology that helps blind people.

The Meta Glasses have two stereo speakers. This makes for excellent sound quality when making calls, playing audio and interacting with the glasses. Further to that, the speakers are open ear, so you can use your glasses and still be able to hear your surroundings.

The glasses allow you to perform tasks hands-free, like learning about your surroundings and speaking on calls. If you have sight loss, this can be incredibly useful, as it allows you to use your hands for other tasks such as navigating with your cane or guide dog.

Yes, we’re saying that the fact they are mainstream is both a pro and a con.

While we love that the Meta Glasses are a mainstream product, that also poses some downsides.

Most functions haven’t been designed specifically with blind people in mind. There’s also the possibility that these functions may experience bugs, or support could be withdrawn at any time, or may not work as expected without any warning.

Like any AI tool, Meta AI can hallucinate, make mistakes and not give accurate information, so you shouldn’t rely on Meta’s AI capabilities in critical situations. The Meta Glasses aren’t a replacement for a mobility aid. Instead, they’re a complement for finding out about your surroundings when you want additional information.

The Meta Glasses camera offers a wide field of view, but films in portrait mode. While this offers excellent coverage, it doesn’t give as wide a field of view as using a phone camera. If you’re on a video call and sharing the view from your glasses, the person on the call with you will be able to see what’s in front of you, but you may need to turn your head for them to see what’s on your left and right in more detail.

Also, a smartphone camera has a higher resolution, so is better for tasks including reading small text.

Also, the Meta Glasses don’t feature a flashlight, so aren’t the best for use in low light conditions.

Many people have raised concerns about the privacy of the Meta Glasses. Meta collects voice and video recordings, that are used for AI-training purposes. As of April 29th 2025, Meta can store voice recordings for up to a year to help train its AI models, with no option to disable this.

There are also concerns around using the glasses for capturing photos and videos. While there is an LED light to notify people that you are taking photos or videos, not everyone may notice this light, so you may end up capturing people without them realising.

If you’re in a more sensitive environment and aren’t actively using your glasses, and want to ensure the camera doesn’t accidentally capture any photos or videos for example if you accidentally press the Capture button, you can turn them off using the on/off switch on the inside of the left arm.

Before you purchase the glasses, make sure your smartphone is compatible. Some older smartphones may result in features of the Meta Glasses not working as expected, meaning that you wouldn’t be able to get the most out of them.

There are various styles of Meta Glasses which suit different face shapes, as well as different lens types and colour options.

We recommend you do your research to find the glasses that suit you best. If you can, visit a retailor or optician in person to try the different styles and find what’s most suitable. You could always bring someone with you if you value having another person advising you on what looks right.

Finding the right fit for you is important. Due to them housing lots of tech, the frames can’t be adjusted if they don’t fit you properly. It’s important to ensure that you’re happy with how they feel to wear before you make your purchase.

While this blog features an overview of the Meta Glasses, there’s lots more information out there.

Learning how to use the glasses, including the set-up processes and how to get the most out of them, will mean you can dive straight into using them once you’ve received them and set them up. There are plenty of resources out there, including the support articles on Meta’s own website (some of which we’ve linked to in this resource), content from blind content creators about the Meta Glasses, and a Facebook group for blind users of Meta Glasses.