RAY-BAN’S Stories glasses can record video, hands free, and boast Facebook technology. They can also play music via ear speakers and respond to basic commands. (“Hey Facebook, write this article,” sadly did not work.) But here’s their most remarkable attribute: They just look like glasses. Released last month, Stories Wayfarers weigh just five grams more than an analog pair and if not for a tiny white light that shines when you’re shooting, they appear identical to tech-free Wayfarers—a seminal frame worn by Muhammad Ali, Madonna and countless others.
The novelty of Ray-Ban’s digitized frames lies in their normalcy. In 2013, Google released its $1,500 Glass, which made the wearer look like such a Silicon Valley cyborg that the innovation was mocked into obsolescence. Glass still exists, but have you seen anyone sporting it lately? With obvious yellow-outlined cameras on each side, the loopy $130 Spectacles from Snap, a Gen-Z favorite social media app, didn’t fare much better in 2016.
