Well, I guess my husband could have predicted that I'd end up deciding to keep both the Meta and the Seleste Glasses. I find that each does things I appreciate. I'll go through a few here, in case it's helpful.
Connecting:
Meta connects more quickly, and uses bluetooth. The Seleste glasses use both Bluetooth and Wifi, so connecting them is a bit clunky. You have to open the seleste app, and if you're away from home, you also have to open the hotspot on your phone. The latest update does connect the Seleste glasses a bit faster.
Audio,
The meta glasses have speakers on both sides, and are very good quality. The phone's sound goes through the glasses, so you can have open ears. The Seleste glasses have only a tiny tinny speaker on the right side, but you can route the sound through the phone and use one or both of your favorite earbuds.
AI
You get Meta's AI by saying Hey Meta, and You get Seleste's AI by saying Hey Sam. The Meta one is definitely faster, but it is limited in what it will do for us as blind people. Despite what I thought, when I posted somewhere on this site, I can't get Meta to read full text on pages. It insists on summarizing. The Seleste AI will read the text in it's entirety
The meta AI refuses to answer any questions about obstacles etc., saying that it won't answer health or safety questions. Not sure yet about the Seleste glasses, but will try soon.
Connectivity.
Meta wins Hands down. I can send texts, make calls, video call with Messenger and What'sapp, while Seleste has none of those features.
Use in a professional setting:
Seleste is the clear winner. I can press a button for text scanning, and for scene description. If I want more info, I can type a discrete request to the AI. Meta only works with voice commands.
So, for me, it's Meta for play and commuting, and Seleste for work. I sure wish I could combine the best features of both.
Hope this helps. .
Comments
Have you heard about apple car Project?
So if you have you heard about apple car project you have the same possibility that apple release apple glasses,.
Vision Pro is a good product as it was in its time, Google Glasses was.
The drawback that Vision Pro is its not having as much acceptance among the general public in the three months of its launch. Vision Pro is having the lowest levels. acceptance, therefore means that the public is losing interest in something supposedly new and advanced, and that is not good for any company. Therefore, Apple will first consider how this product can be successful and then think about making new products , which is why my previous comment on the possibilities.
Note: the Ray Ban Meta was release in September 2023, and the acceptance of this model boom It was from January of this year, even without having the functionalities that it has today since the general public is very interested in these products. I am not talking about our visually impaired community if not about mainstream device
Talking about smart glasses I will pay more attention to the Google Astra project.
Vision Pro
It is not about not being accepted but the price, battery and converson device. Apple will have a great chance of having a good device if they take the time and make sure is not over $500. Time will tell.
2 cents from a business perspective
I feel that the reason Meta Raybans are as popular as they are is on account of 2 factors; affordability and availability. Add to the customization factor, and you have a winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Though the Meta Raybans may have had limited usability for us blind folks, the fact is that software can be upgraded and updated, and (from what I understand) the hardware is pretty solid for a 1st generation model.
/end 2 cents. 🙂
Glass OS?
Okay, I'm not talking about apple specifically here, but if one of the large players develop a propriatory OS for their glasses that gives the developers the ability to make apps for them, the blind community would be greatest beneficiaries, as all the different apps from Occo to Seeing AI can then be integrated. Again, I would keep track of the Astra project here as of now.
Horizon
Horizon has more to do with meta quest, their VR platform.
And I don't know if Meta has cultivated the base tallent to develop an OS unlike Apple or Google...
Meta ai
When looking on Facebook this morning I noticed there was meta ai. Does that mean that the? Meta ai is now available on the smart glasses without going to an American VPN. I bought the smart glasses last week and we got an American VPN, but before I cancel it, does anybody know if the AI is available in the UK.
Is there a Find My feature for these glasses?
Hello everyone, I should be getting my glasses tomorrow. I was wondering if there was a Find My type feature for the glasses? In case they get left behind somewhere will they make a beep or a ping or can you trigger that somehow?
Thank you.
Seleste glasses on the living blindfully podcast
Hi all,
On the latest episode of living blindfully episode 302, there's a recording of a gentleman walking along the street, and the Seleste glasses are announcing obstacles etc.. They sounded really good to me. He didn't show them announcing signs though. Apparently he's got both the Meta Rey-Bans and the Seleste. To the people who still own the Seleste glasses: what are your thoughts on them now? If the Meta glasses announced obstacles like that I'd get them but according to posts above they don't. What are the Meta and Seleste glasses like for reading out signs when walking along? Here's the link to the living blindfully episode. The Seleste item is about 47 minutes in and lasts about 15 minutes.
https://www.livingblindfully.com/episode-302censorship-of-the-spoken-word-in-a-world-of-ai-a-walk-with-the-seleste-smart-glasses-and-the-day-one-journaling-app/
Re: obstacle detection in the meta ray-bans
The Meta Ray-bans have nothing like that. You can take a picture and ask a question about it, or you can just ask a question without a picture but that's about it. I did see a throwaway line in some Verge article, I think, that suggested multi-modal stuff was coming but who knows if that's the current incarnation or in the future.
I've not tried Celeste though so can't comment there.
Seleste
That podcast I posted above blew my mind to be honest. I want something like that. But at approx. £40 per month for a Seleste subscriptionn, plus all the downsides posted above, I just don't know. I could always get them, pay for a couple of months, and send them back again. That along with Voice Vista or Blindsquare while travelling just has so much potential. I'll have to think about it.
Hey Tara
I just bought a glide and put my hopes on hold...it might work, it might not. I think we can see the future, it is just taking a while to get here.
CJ