Meta is planning to add facial recognition to its smart glasses as soon as this year, according to a new report the new York Times. This feature, known internally as “Name Tags”, will allow wearers of smart glasses to identify people and get information about them through Meta’s AI assistant.
The report says Meta’s plans may change. The tech giant has been mulling over how to release the feature since early last year, which poses “security and privacy risks.”
According to an internal memo, the company originally planned to release the name tag to attendees of a conference for the visually impaired before releasing it to the public, but that did not happen.
Meta reportedly saw the political turmoil in the United States as a good time to release the feature.
“We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many of the civil society groups we would expect to attack us will focus their resources on other concerns,” the document reads.
Meta considered adding facial recognition technology to the first version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021, but abandoned the plan due to technical challenges and ethical concerns. The NYT reports that the company has revived its plans as the Trump administration moves closer to big tech, and following the unexpected success of its smart glasses.
