The man who drove a truck into a crowd of people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day wore Meta glasses to scout the scene in October.
A man who killed 14 people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day previously scouted the area and recorded video with his Meta smart glasses, the FBI said.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar recorded video with the glasses in October as he cycled through the French Quarter and plotted the attack, according to Lyonel Myrthil, FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office.
During the attack, Jabbar drove a pickup truck through a crowd on the city’s famous Bourbon Street.
The glasses were recovered on Jabbar, investigators said, adding that he was wearing them during the attack but that there was no evidence he was recording.
A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, declined to comment.
Here’s what to know about Meta’s glasses.
What are Meta glasses?
Meta glasses, made in partnership with Ray-Ban, are frames with a built-in camera, speakers, and artificial intelligence (AI) that can be controlled with your voice, buttons and some simple gestures.
Some functions, such as listening to music or interacting with Meta’s AI assistant, require the device to be either paired with a phone or able to access the internet.
The wearable does not have a display built into the lens, unlike some past industry attempts at building augmented-reality smart glasses.
However, Meta has said it is working on a pair of glasses that will give users a fully holographic experience.
What the Meta glasses can do
One of the glasses’ main selling points is the ability to capture images and video using the onboard camera and then upload those files to Instagram or Facebook.
People can also livestream but only to Meta’s compatible social platforms. They can also use the glasses to make audio and video calls, message people, or listen to music.
The camera also allows Meta’s AI assistant to see what you’re seeing, allowing it to translate text into multiple languages (spoken back to you, or shown on a paired phone app), and answer simple questions, such as searching the nearest landmark to your location.
The glasses are largely a hands-free experience so you will be talking to your device and it will reply.
What the Meta glasses can’t do
The glasses currently cannot perform complex tasks that other digital assistants might be able to, like booking you a reservation at a restaurant or giving you turn-by-turn directions while you’re on the move.
And there’s no display in the lens, so there isn’t a viewfinder for framing photos or video.
There are also visual indicators built into the system that allow bystanders to know when you’re shooting video or taking photos.
This LED privacy indicator stays on while you use the camera functions. According to Meta, you can’t disable this light to be more discreet in your actions.
