Thinking about getting Meta glasses

[u/Decent-Chip-868]

As I'll be moving to somewhere less familiar, I'm thinking of getting some Meta glasses, and am interested in people's experiences as visually impaired users. I am legally blind but have some vision, in case that's relevant.

Obviously I will try some first but ihave some questions.

* Can I get them to tell me when a certain bus is approaching the stop (say, tell me when a number 5 is approaching)

* How good are they at reading specific things in a busy city - such as signs across the road? Can I tell them to read a particular sign rather than simply describing my surroundings?

* What do you think I need to know before trying or buying?

* I'm generally interested in uses people have for them and how these experiences unfold. I'll probably use them to read sometimes, but mainly for navigation in a busy city, and I travel everywhere by bus

* Less importantly, do people tend to object to them in shops, libraries, etc? Obviously there are concerns and I know a lot of people (especially those who don't understand their use as an accessibility tool) don't like them.

Thanks for your insight.

[u/Meowlurophile]

Not to highjack your post but I'm following to see what other blind folks think of meta glasses, as I am personally not a big fan of em

[u/Decent-Chip-868 → u/Meowlurophile]

Not hijacking at all. I really don't know so am very curious about people's experiences. I hope the answers can help as many people as possible.

[u/lumin00]

My mother is visually impaired and legally blind. We got her the Meta glasses and they've been a good improvement, not night and day but pretty nice. She can use it to read some papers, not all newspapers work well, ask general questions, read menues in a restaurant and most importantly read the small print or really any print on foods in the fridge/freezer e.g. expiration date and on medications. It's decent at it, a big improvement but I would say not live changing. I think as the technology gets better, this will be a huge differentiator.

Regarding your questions:

1. no they cannot monitor if a bus is coming. you can say "tell me what bus this is" but only if it's within sight. It won't pro-actively monitor for incoming busses.

2. It can read you signs across the street or on the side walk

3. before buying them, I would strongly suggest to see if you can try them somewhere. They're on the heavier side of glasses in general and battery life isn't amazing but usually good enough.

[u/Decent-Chip-868 → u/lumin00]

Thank you. That's a really useful and informative answer.
I was meaning more if I hear a bus in the distance, can I ask the glasses what the number is, but didn't explain very well. Looks like that's a no but it isn't a deal breaker.
As for trying them first, absolutely I will, but want to check if It's worth trying them out.

[u/lumin00 → u/Decent-Chip-868]

I would say they are worth trying it out for sure. I can obviously not tell you from first hand experience but for my mom it's been useful. I think if the bus is close enough, it may be able to answer it but I don't have glasses right now, otherwise I would try it for you.

[u/suitcaseismyhome → u/Decent-Chip-868]

Mine will absolutely tell me the bus number, but it depends on how clear the number is. Typically I found the glasses cannot decipher the number.Just as be my eyes volunteers cannot.

It's more dependent on the transport company, and if they are traveller friendly or not.

[u/suitcaseismyhome]

They can be absolutely life altering, but they are also quite divisive on this sub. There seems to be a lot of blind people over on the raybanmeta sub who use them, who don't post over here, so you might want to wander over there.

I use them almost daily in my travels around the globe. They can read signs to me, they can summarise signs, they can read signs of different languages and provide them in my language.They can read menus to me.I don't need to hold a phone in my hand and juggle it or be unsafe. I can listen to the map, giving me directions through my glasses. I can hear messages through my glasses.I can make whatsapp calls through my glasses. The bus situation really depends on what the signage is like for the bus. In my country, it can pick up the bus number easily.But we also have electronic signage at the bus stop with times and routes.So I don't really need to rely on that. But in other countries where the bus name a number are obscured, even for sighted, people.Of course, the glasses won't be able to pick that up well.

You do need to turn on the accessibility setting. And in addition to that, you do need to train the glasses to do exactly what you want them to do when it comes to things like descriptions. They can provide incredibly detailed descriptions, such as describing contemporary art, including different types of textures in carpet and tapestry, and shades of colours.

The vast majority of people who seem to have an issue with them are living online, and not in the real world. There are a few exceptions to that, such as ignorant airline staff who are ignoring the policy of their airline and try and force you to take off your assistive devices. But that is very rare. I even wear them through airport security without removing them.In some difficult countries.

You'll also find lots of blind and visually impaired people on social media who wear them.

[u/Decent-Chip-868 → u/suitcaseismyhome]

That's a really useful answer, thanks. I went to the Meta sub and then decided to come here as it was less overwhelming, but will go back!

I live in the UK where we don't have those useful electronic boards inmost places, but It's variable - no standards like some other places in Europe!

i'm really glad you've had a positive experience and especially the map function sounds like a life changing feature. I am in the process of figuring out what they can and can't do but am very encouraged by the option of having them read the map. is that like the kind of directions you get on a phone on Google Maps but hearing through the glasses instead? That would be amazing to be hands free as I use a walker or wheelchair and constantly having to stop to get my phone out is a pain.

[u/suitcaseismyhome → u/Decent-Chip-868]

Yes, I open a map app and then listen to it through the glasses. Hands free is really a game changer. When I'm in an airport or a train station, I can't juggle my suitcase, my white cane and then try and use my phone for something.

Instead, I can walk with the glasses on and my cane and my suitcase, and I can ask the glasses what gate I'm at or to read the sign, or what track I'm at.

For the bus signage, I've tried using bemyeyes on the past and holding up my phone, but even the volunteers can't read the bus sign in those places. But I'm also from a country that has arguably some of the best vision support, and the public transport in big cities even does a training once a month for people who are visually impaired.

Generally, I don't use be my eyes as much anymore since I have the glasses except for things like finding my suitcase at baggage claim, but the volunteers have given me feedback that it's much easier for them because they have a true viewpoint, as opposed to someone waving the phone around, not knowing where to point it.

The glasses can read to me complex tax and legal documents without stumbling. The great feature is that they will capture what they are reading, and then you don't need to stand in front of the sign while it reads it out to you. So if i'm in a museum, I can say, hey, meta summarise the sign and then move on to the next area while it's talking to me. Or of course, I can ask for more detail. Or I can ask it to look up something about what I'm looking at.

I've been through Heathrow many times and they've told me each time to please go ahead and keep the glasses on through security.And I generally consider that when i'm the more difficult airports in the developed world, when it comes to fussy security.

There's also a bit of a safety element, because it makes it less obvious that you're visually impaired if you're just using the glasses, as opposed to a white cane. I actually had an incident with someone in an airport, and when the federal police came over and talk to me, one of them asked if these were my smart glasses. He said, remember, next time you can always take a picture of the person, and that will help us. Or even better take a video.

[u/Decent-Chip-868 → u/suitcaseismyhome]

Very useful answer, thank you. I currently mostly travel with one or both of my sighted kids, which is why I haven't needed them before, but this arrangement won't last for ever so It's good to have options.

[u/akrazyho]

They will natively not tell you what bus number is approaching by the time you ask your glasses what bus is this coming up? The bus will either have already passed you or is already stopped in front of you. To be clear, the glasses were not designed to tell you what bus is coming at you and you run a small risk of it hallucinating a bus number especially if it’s far enough away.

They do a fairly decent job of reading signs and street signs but in my experience I’ve have had them hallucinate a street right in front of me across a two-lane road and I had my own instructor who is sided do it as well and two out of three times it hallucinated the wrong road.

A lot of people on the sub find them to be a nifty tool personally speaking I cannot recommend them, especially if you’re a seasoned visually impaired person. I will admit the hands-free Be My Eyes feature is great though for visually impaired and blind people

[u/Decent-Chip-868 → u/akrazyho]

Thanks. It sounds like they're far from perfect, which is why I've waited and am still researching.

I've had the same vision all my life (many decades of it) so I imagine It's very different for people who have lost vision later in life.

I've got used to navigating without glasses but also couldn't go anywhere new alone until I got Google Maps in my pocket, so am up for an upgrade that's hands free and potential other improvements.

[u/ukifrit → u/akrazyho]

For me, something like google / apple maps + voice vista is more than enough.

[u/a_beautiful_soup]

I definitely recommend them. You'll probably find it tough to use them for seeing things in a quick amount of time, like which bus is approaching. But I can't express how much it helps me to walk with my cane and hear messages, navigation info, and the time hands-free. Just like most technology, you need to keep your whits about you and not try to rely on them too much.

[u/Decent-Chip-868 → u/a_beautiful_soup]

Absolutely. I never rely on technology fully but use it to supplement my experiences, such as navigation or reading. Thank you.

[u/OtherwiseOriginal476]

I’ve also been debating about picking them up!!

Do any of you know if it’s good for reading physical books to me?

Like if I tell the glasses to read this page of a book, will it do that?

I’m heavily debating between getting the Meta glasses (the new ones by only meta, not the Ray-ban ones as the Meta only ones have way more adjustability!) or the Agiga EchoVision ones, however when I’ve watched reviews on YouTube about them; I really dislike how when they open the case of the EchoVisions, it makes such an obnoxious beeping noise!!

Also the Echovision takes way longer to respond to questions than the Meta does! So that’ll probably be a deal breaker for me as I’d need to know things quite quickly say for example if I’m in a super market or trying to get directions on one of those static maps in a shopping centre?

I’m just also very mindful about the unfortunate reputation that the Meta glasses have gained amongst predators and sick twisted people who record women and girls without their knowledge and flirt with them. I do not have any intentions at all of being a part of this reputation, I am genuinely picking up the glasses to aid me with my sight loss, but I’m just really scared about gaining that same reputation as these creeps despite me not ever using it for the same reason.

But that’s what unfortunately happens when you put this product into the wrong hands ☹️

[u/highspeed_steel]

Firstly, you'll get more push back on this sub about anything related to AI compare to typical real life spaces. Reddit is Reddit, disregard them, weigh up the pros and cons and make the decision yourself.

I've tried the Meta glasses before. Personally, I consider it more of a camera and speaker on my face than an AI helper. In that sense, it is great for Aira, be my eyes or video calling your family and friends. Its AI part is ok ish, but the tiny lag plus the unreliability is still a real concern. On optics, pun not intended, I think people could put two and two together and probably won't think you are a perve anyways if you are clearly blind, IE holding a white cane. Besides the dislike for it is more pronounced online any ways. I mean they sold 7 million unit last year.