Meta weighs facial recognition rollout for smart glasses

Meta is preparing to introduce facial recognition capabilities to its smart glasses, according to a report by The New York Times. The feature, referred to as “Name Tag,” would allow wearers to identify people through Meta’s built in AI assistant.

Meta reportedly considered debuting the feature at a conference for blind users before a broader rollout, though that plan did not materialize. The company now intends to release the feature as early as this year across its Ray Ban and Oakley smart glasses.

The technology would not identify every individual in view. Instead, it would likely recognize users’ existing contacts across Meta platforms and potentially people with public profiles on services such as Instagram.

Meta has previously faced legal scrutiny over facial recognition, discontinuing its Facebook photo tagging system in 2021 following regulatory pressure.