TECH :
''' DINING STUDENTS DINERS* '''
LUIS FLORES -32- A FOOD INFLUENCER in Manhattan, films restaurant reviews
using Meta Ray-Ban glasses he bought last year : '' It feels like you're
there, ordering the food yourself. There's no way to fake it.''
Meta glasses offer voice-control and livestreaming capabilities and allow
users to post directly to Instagram. Soon they may be able to recognize
faces.
Sales of products in the smart glasses category nearly tripled last year from
a year earlier, according to Caircana, the market research company.
Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, sold more than two million
pairs of its smart glasses between their introduction in 2023 and February
2025.
And it sold more than seven million last year, according to an earnings report
released last month by Essilor Luxottica, a manufacturer of the glasses.
Last summer, Google unveiled its latest prototype, Android XR glasses,
equipped with cameras, speakers and artificial intelligence. Apple is
reporting developing a similar product as is OpenAI.
The videos have elicited a range of reactions from service workers captured in
them. Mr. Wong of the Chubby Crab conceded that the clip has been great
for business despite his discomforts.
'' If they had asked, I would have said yes,'' he said.
But the same customer who filmed Mr. Wong - an influencer who calls herself
Elizabeth Eats - caused a stir at Nablus Sweets, a bakery in Bay Ridge,
Brooklyn, a couple of months later.
An owner, Taiseer Hamoud, did not realize he was being recorded when she asked
questions about the war in GAZA, because he did not see a phone.
'' It was sneaky,'' said Mr. Hamoud, 53, who noticed her glasses had a
recording light only midway through their conversation.
'' I don't want a video like that. I don't want to mess up the relationship
with my customers.'' On TikTok, his daughter said the video misrepresented his
beliefs.
Elizabeth Eats deleted the original post and filmed a response several months
later. In a statement for this article, she declined to provide her real name
but said :
'' I publicly posted a video showing that I clearly stated to the owner upon
entering that I was recording to promote his Palestinian business,'' adding ''
I create nonpolitical content to celebrate cuisine and uplift all cultures.''
Filing in public spaces is broadly protected by the First Amendment. Some
states, including California and Pennsylvania, have two-party consent laws
that prohibit recording without express permission.
But enforcing them hinges on whether someone has a '' reasonable expectation
of privacy '' in a given setting, said Aaron krowne, a New York City lawyer
specializing in privacy and civil liberties.
Restaurants fall in a legal gray area : They are privately owned but open to
anyone.
Those protections haven't been tested in cases involving smart glasses. '' It
has managed to stay out of the courts, which is quite shocking.,'' Mr. Kwowne
said.
''I'm sure we'll see more lawsuits soon.''
The responsibility of using these devices essentially falls largely on the
wearer.
A restaurant can ask a customer to stop filming or leave or post signs
forbidding smart glasses use, as some establishments did with Google-Glass
over a decade ago.
But Viveca Chow, 31, a content creator said : she shared a public service
announcement on TikTok in December pointing out the location of the camera on
Meta Ray-Ban glasses and the the status light.
'' Most of the time I approach someone with glasses, they don't realize what's
happening,'' she said. '' Some people think it's Bluetooth.''
The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Tech, Laws
and Future continues. The World Students Society thanks Luke Fortney.
With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the
world.
See You all prepare for the great '' Constitutional Democratic Convention ''
on !WOW! - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world
:
wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :
Good Night and God Bless
SAM Daily Times - The Voice Of The Voiceless
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