So, I caved and bought the Meta Ray-Bans 2 this year. I desperately needed something to record hands-free video and this seemed like the best option possible. The problem, however, was the same problem I’ve had with Meta all along – they’re notoriously data-hungry. I’ve deliberately disabled Meta’s AI assistant features on the glasses ONLY because I don’t want to give the company more information than it already has on me. Then an email emerged in my inbox – from a company that was building exactly the kind of smart glasses I needed.
Looktech’s pitch is rather simple – wearables are great, AI is great; but we already have a phone that harvests our data, a watch that tracks our health, a smart speaker that listens to everything we say. It’s time we had a gadget that let us use powerful features without sacrificing our privacy. The AI-powered smart glasses let you capture the world around you thanks to built-in cameras, while Looktech’s AI agent takes things one step further by letting the AI analyze what you see for a more meaningful, personalized experience. That means being able to use your smart glasses to read different languages, translate signs/menus, scan your food to get an approximate calorie count, or even identify plants with a simple command. The AI aside, you still have a pair of stylish glasses that let you take photos and videos of your POV, something I’ve come to absolutely love. Notably, the Looktech records media in landscape mode, while the Meta glasses opt for vertical content.
Designer: Looktech
Click Here to Buy Now: $209 $349 (40% off). Hurry, only 25/309 left! Raised over $190,000.
Styled to look like a pair of regular Wayfarer-style glasses, the Looktech hides an impressive amount of tech underneath the hood. You’ve got a 13MP camera capable of recording hi-res photos and 2K videos, a set of superlinear speakers that fire audio directly into your ear, helping you hear music or take calls privately without others hearing what you hear (while still allowing you to hear the world around you), and finally an AI capable of performing a variety of tasks like talking to you, analyzing what you see, or even summarizing/transcribing your calls. Finally, Looktech’s app gives you access to media from your glasses, allowing you to edit videos and photos, and do unique things by bringing the AI into the mix like counting calories or identifying items.
A significant upgrade over Meta’s Ray-Bans 2, the Looktech packs a 13MP camera that records 2K video, measurably higher than the Ray-Bans’ 720p output. This makes your spectacles about as powerful as your phone’s own camera. Record your POV, use the camera as your personal dashcam while driving/riding, take photos quickly before moments pass, or capture images for the AI to analyze, the glasses give you a discreet personal camera that sees what you see. Looktech’s Super Anti-Shake technology digitally fixes any jitter or movement while you record – something that tends to happen while you’re walking/running. Images also get automatically horizontally calibrated just in case your head’s slightly tilted while clicking a photo – something that almost always happens fairly unconsciously because your brain always sees the world straight.
Meanwhile, two superlinear speakers sit right within the glass stems, focusing audio directly into your ears. The beam-forming speakers guide the sound into your ears and keep them from leaking out. So even though you’re not wearing headphones, you can hear music playing directly in your ears… and others can’t. The open-ear design means discreet music playlists, podcast sessions, or calls. I don’t condone it but you could totally listen to music during a boring lecture. Sure, you’ll still be able to hear the world around you, which means you’re aware of traffic while crossing the road, etc.
The speakers are supplemented by a microphone that has powerful noise cancelation built right in so that your voice is transmitted crystal-clear to the people you’re talking to. The glasses automatically adjust mic gain too, and even account for echo if you’re in a reverb-y place. Think AirPods, but built right into your glasses. And as someone who’s worn the Ray-Bans before, the audio quality can often surprise you by how good it is.
The glasses come with strictly hardware buttons, ditching capacitive touch surfaces that can often accidentally register input while you’re adjusting the glasses. A capture button on the right stem lets you activate the camera, with a press for photo and a long-press for video. Meanwhile, a dedicated AI button on the left lets you summon the AI assistant, and a rotating media crown lets you control volume.
The secret sauce lies in the Looktech’s AI chops. The AI assistant can be summoned right through the glasses through its dedicated button, or can be used within the Looktech app. The words “Hey Memo” summon the AI, allowing you to remotely capture moments, get driving directions, set and take account of daily tasks, and answer calls. The app gives you extra features, allowing the AI to analyze specific images from your camera roll. You can have the AI help you with activities like capturing a parking spot and reminding you where you parked your car, or something more uniquely powerful like translating signs or a food menu card in a foreign country. Then have the AI tell you how to say Thank You in the local language that the waiters will appreciate. The AI handles tasks, summarizes conversations, creates transcripts of phone calls (if you ask it), and even has past recollection, so you could literally ask it about the meal you had a week ago, or whether you’ve got any engagements next month.
Going beyond something as simple as the ChatGPT app, the Looktech app has diverse set of features. For starters, it helps edit videos that you take from the glasses (doing something even the Meta View app doesn’t). Aside from clipping and cropping your media, the AI on the app can identify key moments in a video, add music, create captions, and turn simple recordings into post-processed videos to share online. Moreover, it also comes with its own set of mini-apps that perform specific activities like transcribe meetings/calls, track calories from food images (to a fairly accurate degree), and identify plants, with more mini-apps coming along the way.
Looktech’s AI is operating on the latest leading AI models like GPT-4o, Claude, or Gemini. The AI intuitively relies on different LLMs to get the best possible result, being effectively greater than the sum of its parts. Notably, it also anonymizes data going to any of the LLMs, so the AI can’t build a data profile on you. This is a stark contrast to Meta’s glasses, which only rely on Meta AI. The data is directly tied to your Meta profile, which in turn already aggregates information from Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Needless to say, this means your data overwhelmingly belongs to one company – something that the Looktech changes. Along with anonymized processing, TLS and AES encryption ensure that your data isn’t harvested by a third party. Essentially, you’re never the product, and your information isn’t a commodity.
The glasses themselves are undoubtedly sleek, adding all that tech without compromising on style one bit. Most smart glasses from not too long ago ended up being clunky, but the Looktech looks exactly like you’d expect a slick pair of acetate frames to look. They’re fairly lightweight at just 37 grams, which addresses a problem I’ve had with the Meta Ray-Bans that weigh over 50 grams and keep sliding down my nose. This is thanks to the use of TR90 plastic for the frame’s outer body, and titanium hinges that add robustness without the weight. The frames come in a single style for now, with 4 different color options ranging from opaque to gradient and transparent. You can buy them as-is, or if you’re like me, have Looktech fit prescription lenses in before shipping.
The frames come with 32 gigabytes of on-board memory, and the Looktech automatically overwrites data once it gets transferred to your phone. The device boasts a stellar 14-hour battery life, and charges via a magnetic cable that snaps to contact-points on the spectacles. Each pair of glasses also come with a carrying case, a cleaning cloth, and a 1-year warranty. The app is free to install, and Looktech isn’t charging anything extra for the AI features… for now. The company also promises to keep updating its LLMs based on new models and launches, so you’re always using the latest AI models out there.
Click Here to Buy Now: $209 $349 (40% off). Hurry, only 25/309 left! Raised over $190,000.
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