About this Website

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This site provides information for sight-impaired and blind people in the UK about AI-enabled Smart Glasses. We are sponsored by the Silver AI Project and are located in Chipping Sodbury, near Bath and Bristol. Our sponsorship allows us to offer free support to the voluntary sector. Whatever your needs please contact us on the email address found in the footer of this page below.

Please be aware that we are retricting our search for glasses that are in the sub £ 500 range as we believe there will be very many options at this price before long.

Our goals:

  • To help users evaluate different AI glasses options independently
  • To provide pressure-free, accessible information
  • To share real user experiences with various devices

Currently, our in-person presentations and support are available in the Bath and Bristol area. We plan to expand our geographical coverage in the future. Where possible in the future we plan to loan AI glasses to people for two or three days to evaluate at home. When we do this the AI glasses are factory-reset after use to preserve confidentiality.

Neuralink UK Patient Registry. This may also be of interest to some readers. This is a futuristic brain implant from an Elon Musk company. "Anyone within the UK who is at least 18 years old, who is able to consent, and who has quadriplegia, paraplegia, vision loss, hearing loss ... is invited to participate in the Patient Registry UK"

Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Availability and Cost

Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses are available through several UK retailers including John Lewis where the Wayfarer model is priced at £ 379.00 (at Feb. 2025). Prescription lens options can be ordered through Ray-Ban directly at additional cost. Here is the www.meta.com/gb/ai-glasses/ link. This is a consumer product aimed at the widest market and has apparently already sold 2 million pairs (at Feb 2025).

These glasses integrate with smartphones through the Meta View app, providing voice-controlled operation and hands-free functionality. The system includes high-quality microphones for clear audio capture and interaction and also inbuilt speakers.

Meta Ray-Ban glasses charging case
The Meta Ray-Ban charging case provides many hours of additional battery life.
Meta Ray-Ban glasses in their open charging case.
The Meta Ray-Ban glasses charge in the case which has a USB-C connection.
Meta Ray-Ban glasses withh key features marked.
In addition to inbuilt microphones and speakers the Meta Ray-Ban glasses have a camera at the front left and a light at front right that lights when the camera is used. This is to avoid privacy violations. There is also a button on the top of the righthand arm, and another control if you tap the side of the same arm of the glasses.

The Meta View App

The Meta View App is downloaded to the wearer's mobile phone. It prefers a reasonably recent version of an iPhone, Google Pixel or Samsung phone. The user can login with a Facebook, Instagram or Meta account. If a new Meta account is required it does not require users to enter a real name, minimising privacy issues. In addition a mobile phone number has to be provided to which a code is sent during login.

Features on Meta Ray-Bans useful for the sight-impaired

Much of the functionality is similar to that already achieved using a smartphone camera, but now with the additional advantage of being hands free. Most functionality is set up using the Settings menus within the Meta View app.

1. Integration with the Be My Eyes service.
'Be My Eyes' is a well established volunteer backed service where users can open an App on their phone and give others the ability to see though the phone camera and provide immediate audio advice. AI Glasses offer the advantage that the wearer can keep their hands free and have the third party see through the camera on the glasses and speak through the inbuilt speakers. This is the link to the relevant webpage on the Be My Eyes site: www.bemyeyes.com/ray-ban-meta.

The community is also waiting on 'Be My AI' which is the AI volunteer function within Be My Eyes.

2. Integration with WhatsApp.
2.1 Hearing incoming WhatsApp text messages
This works well in the glasses, particularly if you set it to not just announce who the message is from but also automatically read it.
2.2 Sending WhatsApp text messages
"Hey Meta, send a message to [name] on WhatsApp". This worked well in our tests.
2.3 Making voice calls from Meta Ray Bans.
"Hey Meta, call [name] on WhatsApp". This worked well.
2.4 Making video calls that use Meta Ray Ban glasses.
Tested fine when starting video call from WhatsApp on phone then switching to glasses.

3. Meta 'Look and Tell'.
The idea is to give the Meta AI service access to the camera on the glasses so that the wearer can ask "What am I looking at" and similar questions. It is believed that this feature is not yet available in the UK. Some owners are using VPNs to be able to have the USA version of the product. It is unclear why the UK cannot yet have the feature. Here is a relevant Double Tap YouTube video from early 2025 - starts about 10 minutes in. See also the 'Be My AI' service above which would also provide a similar functionality.

4. Aira Assist.
Still investigating.

Device Requirements

To use these glasses effectively, you'll need:

Useful Third Party Videos

[1] Meta Ray-Ban Smart Glasses for the bLind and Visually Impaired by Caitlyn of Challenge Solutions published January 2025
Mentions Be My Eyes video calling, also WhatsApp video calling, also AIRA and expresses camera and audio quality as being better than Envision glasses.

Support on finding more about the Meta Ray-Ban Glasses

February 2025. This project has purchased a pair of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses for evaluation. We are happy for any local person with sight impairment to experience these. If you run a local voluntary or charitable group dealing with this kind of issue please contact us so that we arrange a presentation. This is not a sales pitch - we do not sell anything and all services are free to you.

Agiga EchoVision

Availability and Cost

AGIGA is a startup based in America. It plans to launch its smart glass product in mid 2025 at a cost of USD 599. No doubt there will also be significant shipping costs to the UK. As at Feb. 2025 their website agiga.ai/ is offering pre-ordering at a slightly discounted price. Their FAQ section says they will ship to the USA only but they have confirmed they are looking at how to ship to the UK. This site has a pair on pre-order.

The reason that the Agiga EchoVision glasses are covered here is because social media has covered them very positively. The following link is to a YouTube video where the CEO and CTO are interviewed by 'Carrie on Accessibility'.
YouTube about Agiga EchoVision.

Features on Agiga EchoVision useful for the sight-impaired

In addition to the expected speakers and microphone, there are two buttons:
- a button to navigate menu items and connect to the wearer's phone
- the Magic Button which just starts describing what the camera sees ahead of the wearer. That is called a scene description.

It is intended that the glasses support reading text out, word by word, such as a book. This would be triggered by a voice command. They also mention being able to connect both to the user's phone and also directly to home WiFi etc.

They are in the process of integrating Be My Eyes.

The frames can be fitted with prescription lenses.