Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have earned a reputation for being creepy, with growing backlash over reports of users secretly recording people in public. Swedish journalists found that Meta moderators had reviewed intimate footage captured through the glasses, including people using the toilet and having sex.
Meta responded that it takes data protection seriously and that footage stays on a user’s device unless they choose to share it. Reports of the company’s plans to implement facial recognition haven’t helped either. But here’s the thing – the same glasses are also quietly changing lives in ways that are hard to argue with.
How a blind artist is using Meta glasses to run a marathon guided by strangers worldwide
Clarke Reynolds, a 45-year-old blind artist from Havant known as “Mr. Dot,” is believed to be attempting a world first this month. He’s running the Brighton Marathon guided remotely by sighted volunteers who see his route in real-time through his Meta AI glasses (via BBC).
Reynolds has the inherited condition Retinitis Pigmentosa and describes his vision as looking underwater – shapes, shadows, and some colour. He lost his driving licence 13 years ago after a sudden diagnosis, and has since turned braille into art, teaching it in schools and staging solo shows.
He previously ran the London Marathon tethered to a physical guide runner, but found it frustrating due to mismatched stride patterns and scheduling difficulties.
This time, he will be using the Be My Eyes app by saying, “Hey Meta, come be my eyes,” which connects him to a worldwide network of volunteer strangers who can see through his glasses and guide him in real time.
The bigger picture behind Reynolds’ marathon bid
Fight for Sight, the sight-loss charity he represents as an ambassador, is coordinating volunteers for race day. There will also be a backup guide runner in case the tech fails.
Reynolds says the glasses have already expanded what’s possible for him – he’s used them at art galleries and had paintings described to him in the voice of Dame Judi Dench.
His fundraising target, which started at £750, has climbed to £2,000 after donations, including one from Be My Eyes itself. The goal on race day is to cross the finish line within six hours.
Meta’s glasses may still carry serious privacy baggage. But Reynolds’ story is a useful reminder that the same technology causing concern in one context can be quietly transformative in another.
