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There’s something about smart glasses that brings out the worst in people. However, it’s not really a secret: They’re powerful little surveillance devices that let wearers secretly record whomever they’re watching, uniting tech bros and nerd influencers under a single, obnoxious umbrella.
The popularity of wearables like the Meta Ray-Ban are increasingly reminding us why the term “Glasshole” was popular just a decade ago, and is becoming more relevant now than ever. A useful but increasing blood pressure Summary of Contemporary Glasshole Behavior Mashable, JPeople using always-on devices are using them to film themselves doing silly “pranks” for views – often focused on harassing women, service workers and homeless people.
Unfortunately, one class of obnoxious jerks who have discovered the usefulness of this technology include “pickup artists” who now have the ability to record the women they are “seducing” – read: harassing – discreetly, in a clear violation of their privacy.
Of course, smart glasses alone can’t be blamed for this. It’s social media, it’s the attention economy, it’s the smartphones we all use to participate in all of the above. But it can’t be denied that smart glasses let you record anyone and anything in a more covert way than shoving a phone in someone’s face, making it a boon for those looking for Internet fame, like one Instagram account that filmed women’s buttocks without consent, and another that visited massage parlors to stalk masseuses. Others confidently make videos of themselves harassing service workers and keep the camera on while the subject asks not to be recorded. And one particularly bizarre channel involves a man pretending to be mentally disabled while talking to unsuspecting firefighters.
Unfortunately, these recordings are generally legal if taken in public places, even in states that have two-party consent laws. However, debating its legality may be missing the point, argues content creator Brad Poudre, formerly known as Scumbag Dad.
“I know it’s legal. I don’t care,” Poudre said. Mashable. “It’s not a discussion. I think it’s weird and creepy, and it reflects a very predatory mentality.”
The appeal of smart glasses, he said, is that they’re fairly cheap and allow creators to capture candid reactions from people they harass, making their content seem more authentic. This is giving rise to the genre of bizarre prank videos, which has lost its appeal due to many channels staging their pranks.
Poudre said, “They want people who are good on camera, so they’ll hit up fast food workers, and they’ll hit up pretty girls.” “A lot of random women hanging around wouldn’t want to participate in a play if you ask them, so they remove agency completely by just wearing glasses.”
Unlike when Google first took the plunge on smart glasses in 2014, it looks like the technology is here to stay this time. The popularity of products like Meta Ray-Ban has opened up a new market of imitators who are in an arms race to make their smart glasses look as ethically questionable as possible, perhaps with a little help from AI or facial recognition software. But regular people are already getting fed up. When a woman allegedly broke the smart glasses of some people on the metro, she was hailed as a hero across the world. Smart glasses should make us all heroes.
More wearable: : A man bought Meta’s AI glasses, and began wandering the desert in search of aliens to kidnap him
