How to Use the Meta Smart Glasses

Here is how to use the Meta Smart Glasses with a useful list of commands, that can be used to help blind and visually impaired users.

Note: These glasses are not designed specifically for blind and visually impaired people, but their features can be used to support those with visual impairments. They should be used as additional aids for mobility and independence, instead of replacing the skills already learnt. They are not meant to be used as a navigational tool. Always use proper orientation and mobility skills when using your Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

Download this list of commands

Accessibility Features:

These “Look and ask” Meta Smart Glasses commands, occur by the glasses taking a photo and using Meta Ai to analyse the image.

• “Hey Meta, look and read this text”: Reads visible text aloud.
• “Hey Meta, describe my surroundings”: Provides details about the environment using AI.
• “Hey Meta, what’s in front of me?”: Identifies objects, people, or scenes using built-in AI.
• “Hey Meta, describe the color”: Identifies and announces the color of visible objects.

Blind specific commands:

These Meta Smart Glasses commands help the inbuilt Meta Ai understand the user’s needs as a blind person and will give responses to accommodate that.

• “Hey Meta, always remember I am a blind person, and give me detailed descriptions when I request them.”
• “Hey Meta, Always remember that I am a blind person, and give full descriptions that will enable me to visualise my surroundings.”
• “Hey Meta, remember that I am a blind person, so help me picture what is in the next captured image.” 
• “Hey Meta, look and tell me what you see”: Provides identification of objects or people in view.
• “Hey Meta, look and give me a detailed description”: Offers a thorough analysis of visible surroundings.
• “Hey Meta, look and tell me everything you see”: Gives a comprehensive overview of the environment.

Smart Assistance:

These Meta Smart Glasses commands can help you find out some general information.

• “Hey Meta, what are good prompts to find out about recipes?” Provides a range of questions to enable you to find out about recipes.
• “Hey Meta, how would I cook chicken breast with tomatoes?” Suggests the basic method of frying  chicken with tomatoes.
• “Hey Meta, what are useful prompts to find out about films?” Provides a range of questions to enable you to find out about films.
• “Hey Meta, what titles by Terry Pratchett are available as audio-books?” Provides a list of audio-books by this author.
• “Hey Meta, what are the names of authors similar to Terry Pratchett?” Provides the names of some authors who also write fantasy books.
• “Hey Meta, what’s the weather today?” Provides the current weather report.
• “Hey Meta, When is rain next expected?” Predicts any likelihood of rain in your area.
• “Hey Meta, navigate to [location]”: Sends directions to your phone’s navigation app.
• “Hey Meta, what’s nearby?” “: Lists nearby points of interest.
• “Hey Meta, what restaurants or cafes are nearby?” Lists nearby restaurants or cafes.
• “Hey Meta, set a reminder for [time/task]”: Sets a reminder using your phone’s assistant.

Technical support and control:

These Meta Smart Glasses commands will help you do more technical things, hands free.

• “Hey Meta, battery status”: Reports battery life (important for extended use with assistive tech). 
• “Hey Meta, pair Bluetooth”: Initiates pairing mode for Bluetooth devices.
• “Hey Meta, connect to Wi-Fi”: Connects to a Wi-Fi network via the Meta app.
• “Hey Meta, factory reset”: Resets the device to its default settings (requires confirmation).

“Hey Meta, power off”: Powers down the glasses. To turn the power on again, you will need to use the sliding toggle switch on the inside of the left arm, near the hinge. Using your fingernail, move the sliding switch forward toward the lens to turn the power back on. If the switch is already forward, then slide the switch back to “off”, then back to “on” again.

Note:  The glasses use maximum power when turned on and in “listening” mode; i.e. awaiting your meta commands. In this mode, they should function normally for about seven hours without recharging, depending on how often, and in which way, the glasses are used. Recording and storing a video, or reading a page of text, for example, uses more power than simply asking meta the time or answering a phone-call.

The glasses charging case also stores power after the charging cable has been disconnected. This means you can take your charging case with you when out and about, and recharge your glasses by putting them back in the case, say while travelling in a car or plane etc or while taking a rest break. Remember to recharge your glasses and the case when you return home, or have access to another power source by connecting it via the usb-c cable to the charging-case.

Reading and Translation:

These Meta Smart Glasses commands can help the user understand what is written down in front of them.

• “Hey Meta, look and read this”: Reads aloud visible text such as signs, menus, or documents.
• “Hey Meta, look and translate this”: Translates text into your preferred language.
• “Hey Meta, look, and give me a summary of the document I’m holding.” Provides a general idea of the printed item before you.
• “Hey Meta, look, and give me a detailed description of anything on this envelope.”
• “Hey Meta, look and tell me who this envelope is addressed to.”
• “Hey Meta, look and give me a very detailed description and summary of the brochure I am holding.”
• “Hey Meta, read and give me a detailed description from top to bottom of the document I am holding.”
• “Hey Meta, look, and read with a detailed description, the document I am holding.”

Remember if you do not receive enough details, phrase your prompts differently during follow-up question sequences. Don’t use the phrase, “Who is this addressed to?” And, don’t say, “What is the person’s name on the envelope?” This will stall the Meta software.

Reading menus:

• “Hey Meta, look and summarize, and describe in detail the items on this menu.”
• “Hey Meta, look and give me detailed pricing information on this menu for the beverages, appetisers, main courses, and desserts.” Remember that you can be much more specific with what you are looking for on the menu to get better results.
• “Hey Meta, look and summarize the beverages and pricing on this menu.”
• “Hey Meta, look and give me a detailed description of the appetisers on this menu with pricing for each item.”
• “Hey Meta, look and give me a detailed summary of the main courses on this menu with pricing for each item.”
• “Hey Meta, look and give me a detailed description of the desserts on this menu with pricing for each item.”
• “Hey Meta, look and tell me the chicken options on the menu”

Photo and Video:

• “Hey Meta, take a photo”: Captures an image of what’s in front of you.
• “Hey Meta, start recording”: Begins video recording with spatial audio.

Communication:

• “Hey Meta, message [contact]”: Sends a dictated message via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or SMS.
• “Hey Meta, call [contact]”: Initiates a call hands-free.
• “Hey Meta, answer the call”: Accepts incoming calls.

Remember and store commands:

Because the glasses can’t recognise faces, if you’re looking at someone you know and you ask the Meta AI assistant what you’re seeing, and it replies that there’s a person in front of you, you could then say:

“Hey Meta, remember this person as my mother, as my father, as my brother, as my sister, as my cousin, as my aunt or as my uncle, as my grandmother or as my grandfather.” You could potentially use this as well and indicate that this is a friend and also give that friends name. It could also be a neighbour of yours and you could give that neighbours name as well to be stored in the database. When the Meta assistant comes back with the fact that it will remember that person as the person you are requesting it to remember the person as such as family or friends or possibly coworkers, in the follow up you would indicate:

“Hey Meta, remember this person as one of the examples above that I’ve listed and store this in your database for future reference.”

“Hey Meta, my name is Martin Peters, remember this as my name and store it in your database for future reference.”

“Hey Meta, remember this address Bradbury Lodge, Gordon Woodwood Way, Oxford as my home address or street address and store it in your database for future reference.”

As you get better with your commands, they will become second nature to you.

Experiment to your hearts content, and make the glasses work for you. Just use common sense.

Calling and messaging

• “Call [contact name].”
• “Call [contact name] on Messenger/WhatsApp.”
• “Send a message to [contact name].”
• “Send a message to [contact name] on Messenger/WhatsApp.”

Media and volume control

• “Pause.”
• “Next.”
• “Play.”
• “Volume up.”
• “Volume down.”

Sharing from glasses

• “Send a picture to [contact name].”
• “Send a picture to [contact name] on Messenger/WhatsApp/my phone.”
• “Send my last picture to [contact name].”

Time and date

• “What time is it?”
• “What’s the date?”

Be informed

• “Who sang the song ‘Pompeii’? Tell me more about the artist.”
• “What’s the population of Argentina?”
• “When was the Brooklyn Bridge? How long is it?”

Be inspired

• “What’s a fun summer drink to make with mint that isn’t too sweet?”
• “What are some good gift ideas for my children, aged 6 and 8? They’re into arts and crafts.”

Be creative

• “Write an old school rap about cats.”
• “I can’t attend a dinner tonight. Can you help me write a polite one line message?”

Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses can not only give you lots of practical assistance, but can entertain, motivate, and inspire you with your favorite music, via the Spotify app.

If you’ve enabled it in Meta View, you can use your voice to control playback and search Spotify by saying the following phrases.

• “Hey Meta, play Spotify”.
• “Hey Meta, pause”.
• “Hey Meta, skip“.
• “Hey Meta, go to track one?.
• “Hey Meta, go forward two tracks?.
• “Hey Meta, go back two tracks?.
• “Hey Meta, volume up”, “Hey Meta, volume down”.
• “Hey Meta, play… (name any song, album, artist, playlist or station)“.

Meta music can also be controlled by touching and swiping the touch pad on the righthand arm of your glasses, and details about how to do this is given on a separate fact sheet. Enquire with whoever sent you this.

Calling a Be My Eyes volunteer audio guide:

How to start a call

Once you’ve connected Be My Eyes to the Meta View app, and have voice controls or Meta AI turned on, you can call a sighted volunteer by saying any of the following:

• “Hey Meta, Be My Eyes”
• “Hey Meta, call Be My Eyes”
• “Hey Meta, call a volunteer with Be My Eyes”
• “Hey Meta, call a volunteer using Be My Eyes”
• “Hey Meta, open Be My Eyes and call a volunteer”

The sighted volunteer will see what is within the field of view of your Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. The camera is on the left side, so bear that in mind when showing objects to a volunteer.

During a call, you can double-tap the capture button on your glasses to toggle the camera, microphone and speakers from your glasses to your phone and back again. Volunteers are also not able to initiate the toggle between the phone and glasses cameras. Volunteers are also not able to zoom on the video, but they can take a picture through the Be My Eyes app to enable zooming.

How to end a call

To end the call, you can either double-tap the touchpad on the right arm of your Ray-Ban Meta glasses or use the Be My Eyes interface on your phone. You will hear an end-of-call notification which indicates that you are no longer using the feature.

Privacy

When you call a volunteer, the sighted volunteer only has access to the video you share from your glasses’ camera and microphone during an active call when your glasses are being used.

Download this list

More Information

Head to: Use Meta AI on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, for more information on commands and setting the glasses up.

Read our article on Meta Smart Glasses for Visually Impaired People for more information.