[HN Gopher] Show HN: Hacky Meta Glasses GPT4 Vision Integration
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       Show HN: Hacky Meta Glasses GPT4 Vision Integration
        
       Super hacky implementation due to the lack of an SDK. Fun project
       though.  In the foodlog demonstration I just made a fake fb account
       (sorry zucc) called "Mye Food-Log".
        
       Author : devon_c
       Score  : 188 points
       Date   : 2023-11-29 10:43 UTC (12 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | amne wrote:
       | somewhat off-topic but this is the first time I see bun actually
       | used for something other than "let's compare it to node"
        
         | ge96 wrote:
         | Someday, witty remark about anaconda and bun
        
         | devon_c wrote:
         | I generally just follow the "It's a drop in replacement for
         | node" and hope the APIs I need are there. Also makes me feel
         | like a 2023 bleeding edge blazingly fast developer which is 90%
         | of the use case right?
        
         | pzmarzly wrote:
         | The project seems to have 0 external runtime dependencies, it
         | should work without "bun install". That is really cool. In the
         | code, it is using typescript, fetch API (so no need for node-
         | fetch) and Bun.serve (so no need for express).
         | 
         | From my experience, a lot of users fail to get Node.js projects
         | running - the distributions (Debian, Ubuntu) still ship ancient
         | 10.x or 12.x versions, npm may or may not be installed, "npm
         | install -g" will try writing to /usr by default and fail with
         | EACCESS, etc. Bun gets the UX right - I think that author could
         | even try "bun build --compile" to get ELF binary with bun
         | interpreter and JS payload.
        
       | soderfoo wrote:
       | Awesome demo, short simple and to the point.
       | 
       | I did not know Meta released smart glasses. Has anybody found
       | them useful or is it more of a novelty?
        
         | devon_c wrote:
         | They're actually good and have nearly replaced my airpods. I
         | don't need glasses and don't live in SF so I do feel a bit
         | pretentious though.
         | 
         | The potential is definitely there and I'd be very surprised if
         | the Meta Reality Labs team haven't already added heaps of
         | features internally and are just waiting or staggering
         | releases.
        
           | TheHumanist wrote:
           | Ok, so how long have you had these? I also was unaware they
           | had released these but they look pretty fun AND the price
           | point is surprisingly approachable.
           | 
           | Are you wearing these out in public pretty regularly? Are
           | people noticing the lenses? My main concern with buying these
           | is that I will end up not wearing them in public eventually,
           | which kind of makes them not super useful. I worry about that
           | because I can see some people seeing those lenses and going
           | off on the whole bit about am I filming them? am I filming
           | their kids? And we all now the rabbit hole of uncomfortable
           | public social iteractions this can take one down. So, I worry
           | I would run into too many of these people downtown or
           | something and end up being anxious about even wearing them
           | out anywhere.
           | 
           | What is your experience and how long have you been wearing
           | them around in public (if you are)?
        
             | devon_c wrote:
             | Wore them everyday for 2 weeks and I actually only bought
             | them as I thought I could make something like this (through
             | any hacky means).
             | 
             | No one has noticed they're any different, especially
             | outside as I got transition lenses so they just go into
             | normal rayban sunglasses mode. You could have a similar
             | effect if you wore those old "new" 3D glasses out and
             | about.
             | 
             | Even colleagues had to squint.
             | 
             | If I do ever have a bad interaction with strangers I'll
             | just tell them about the lengths meta have gone through to
             | prevent bad actors. (i.e: knowing you're trying to cover up
             | the flash).
        
               | TheHumanist wrote:
               | What has Meta done to prevent bad actors?
        
               | devon_c wrote:
               | No SDK to hack (yet?), bright flash, loud "shutter" sound
               | and anti flash coverup.
        
           | swyx wrote:
           | the sound quality isnt as good as airpods though!
        
         | KaiserPro wrote:
         | I have the previous version.
         | 
         | They make brilliant headphones. They have good microphones so
         | they also work a great hands free, perfect for driving.
         | 
         | The cameras are subtle, and only get noticed when you point
         | them out to people. In the street you're not going to notice
         | they are different from any other wayfarer.
         | 
         | I don't use the assistant, because I'm never going to say "hey
         | facebook" in public. Nope, fuck that.
         | 
         | the video is smooth, even if you are running. the stills are
         | kinda useful for "in the moment" pictures.
         | 
         | For the newer version, I think its "hey meta" and they appear
         | to do a lot more than just allow you to read facebook messenger
         | messages.
        
       | digitcatphd wrote:
       | Really cool and actually a real use case.
        
       | laputan_machine wrote:
       | Very cool! Hacker ethos (make a fake account to leverage sending
       | photos), short and simple demo. Nice job
        
         | devon_c wrote:
         | Thanks!
         | 
         | I first attempted a more standard approach via a webhook hosted
         | on Heroku linked to an fb page, which theoretically would of
         | worked.
         | 
         | But, Meta has limited you to only sending messages/pictures to
         | "real people".
         | 
         | I believe they have to be on your friends list for a certain
         | amount of time too but haven't properly tested all the edge
         | cases.
        
           | TheHumanist wrote:
           | Oh is this your project? It's really cool!
           | 
           | Ok, so how long have you had these? I was unaware they had
           | released these but they look pretty fun AND the price point
           | is surprisingly approachable. Are you wearing these out in
           | public pretty regularly? Are people noticing the lenses? My
           | main concern with buying these is that I will end up not
           | wearing them in public eventually, which kind of makes them
           | not super useful. I worry about that because I can see some
           | people seeing those lenses and going off on the whole bit
           | about am I filming them? am I filming their kids? And we all
           | now the rabbit hole of uncomfortable public social
           | iteractions this can take one down. So, I worry I would run
           | into too many of these people downtown or something and end
           | up being anxious about even wearing them out anywhere.
           | 
           | What is your experience and how long have you been wearing
           | them around in public (if you are)?
           | 
           | Also, legit question... how did you succesfully make an alt
           | facebook account? lol Anytime I try with a different name so
           | I can have an alt for buying stuff on marketplace it blocks
           | that new account out because I can't verify it is me (because
           | it's a fake name).
        
       | anonzzzies wrote:
       | How about for the quest 2/3? Anyone did that?
       | 
       | What similar quality vision models are there outside gpt4 ? It's
       | annoying it has so maybe (albeit mostly hack-prompt-able)
       | restrictions.
        
         | Philpax wrote:
         | No camera access on those, unfortunately.
        
           | anonzzzies wrote:
           | Ah didn't know that, thanks.
        
       | DevX101 wrote:
       | I love this demo! 35 seconds, terrible video quality, but it
       | shows you can unlock so much more. Great job.
        
         | devon_c wrote:
         | Thanks!
         | 
         | Recorded on OBS, uploaded to linkedin, screen recorded on iOS
         | then uploaded to Youtube.
         | 
         | Is that not a standard workflow haha (initially was just to
         | send to 1 mate who didn't have linkedin lol)
        
           | webappguy wrote:
           | Sorry did I miss something in the demo, I must have as it
           | appeared you just took a photo and saved it, a function
           | native to the glasses. Where did the vision come in? I'll
           | watch again. Or was it that you saved it to a feed and not
           | the native app
        
             | meesles wrote:
             | Where did the details about his food item come from in the
             | list? That was GPT4 turning his vision into data.
        
             | _1 wrote:
             | He's created another Facebook account. When he takes a
             | photo, he tells the glasses to share it with his other
             | account. He has a service that checking for messages sent
             | to that account. When a new message arrives, theres GPT4-v
             | script that analyses the image and logs the results in his
             | food tracker.
        
       | jcims wrote:
       | This is awesome! I got my glasses a couple weeks ago. I'm in
       | Vegas and actually wore them for the first time yesterday.
       | They're actually really nice and i was thinking how cool it world
       | be to hook it into gpt4v.
        
         | _giorgio_ wrote:
         | What "feedback" do you get from the glasses. Imagine taking a
         | picture or sending a message...
        
           | _1 wrote:
           | Audio only.
        
         | TheHumanist wrote:
         | Ok so do you just wear these around in public? Do you think
         | people will see the pretty obvious lenses and be
         | confrontational? That's the only thing stopping me... I love
         | tech like this but I'm not trying to get bitched at in public
         | when people think I'm filming them or their kids or something
         | like that, you know?
        
           | KaiserPro wrote:
           | Its really hard to notice that they are different from normal
           | raybans, unless you take a picture.
           | 
           | The lens are pretty subtle, and they look like normal
           | wayfarers. When the light comes on, as you make a recording
           | or take a picture, then they notice, but not all of the time.
        
             | TheHumanist wrote:
             | Ok, so if I wanted to walk through downtown on a pretty day
             | and livestream that, it will have a bright light to let
             | people know I am recording? I can't just do that subtly?
        
               | KaiserPro wrote:
               | Yeah if you are recording, the new ones have a bright
               | light (possibly flashing I'm not sure) on. Which makes
               | sense really.
               | 
               | They offer better protection against "unsuspecting
               | picture taking" than normal phones, as the light is
               | vaguely tamper proof. I'm not sure they record if you
               | take them off either.
        
               | mistermann wrote:
               | I would think some paint could solve that problem or
               | would that be detected?
        
               | vlovich123 wrote:
               | Or a needle to pop the light.
        
               | KaiserPro wrote:
               | The detection is pretty good.
               | 
               | but, my friend, why do you want to cover up the light?
        
               | post_break wrote:
               | I've worn GoPros around live streaming and people don't
               | notice. Wearing these glasses with a little led on the
               | frame 99.9% of people won't notice.
        
           | Manouchehri wrote:
           | I have the first gen Ray-Ban Stories (they look very
           | similar), and almost nobody noticed (~3 people in 2 years). I
           | have clear lenses and wear them like normal glasses every
           | day. I mainly use them for the speakers for notifications.
           | 
           | When the new Meta smart glasses were announced, I suddenly
           | had >6 people comment on my old glasses. All the comments
           | were positive, but it did make me more aware that I might get
           | a negative reaction in the future.
        
         | andyjohnson0 wrote:
         | Have you tried wearing them in a casino?
        
           | Manouchehri wrote:
           | Shouldn't be any different than holding your phone out in a
           | casino.
        
         | michaelbuckbee wrote:
         | Do casinos ban smartglasses?
        
       | AlecSchueler wrote:
       | When Google Glass was around there was a big social pushback.
       | Have we accepted the use of these devices around ourselves since
       | then?
        
         | ConfusedDog wrote:
         | I was not gonna spend $1500 for Google glasses, but $300 for a
         | Rayban isn't bad.
        
           | AlecSchueler wrote:
           | My understanding was that the pushback was based on people's
           | discomfort around other people wearing these things, hence
           | the "glasshole" name being used.
        
         | Janicc wrote:
         | I think the pushback will be pretty insignificant simply based
         | on the fact that compared to Google Glass, they really don't
         | stand out as much.
        
           | AlecSchueler wrote:
           | Doesn't that make the privacy concerns that people previously
           | had even more prominent?
        
             | crims0n wrote:
             | Do you have an expectation of privacy in public?
        
               | AlecSchueler wrote:
               | I have an expectation that people I'm speaking with
               | aren't filming me without making it clear that they're
               | doing so. Anyone doing otherwise I consider a creep and
               | would rather not interact with.
               | 
               | Do also note that people wear glasses in private settings
               | as well as public.
        
               | nickthegreek wrote:
               | The glasses have a light on when recording. The light
               | cannot be disabled.
        
               | AlecSchueler wrote:
               | Your can't draw over it with a marker? What about the
               | microphones? Will this still be the case in the next
               | generation or in glasses produced by other manufacturers?
        
               | nickthegreek wrote:
               | No, if you cover the light, it will refuse to take photos
               | or videos. Who cares about the next glasses from another
               | manufacture? We are talking about the current Meta
               | glasses that just came out.
        
               | AlecSchueler wrote:
               | I care and presumably other people with the same outlook
               | care, that's why I was asking.
               | 
               | You're trying to assuage my concerns with the information
               | about the light. That's Meta responding to these concerns
               | and taking efforts to avoid upsetting anyone.
               | 
               | But once the market is proven then another set of glasses
               | will be marketed as having the feature of silent
               | recording. By that time the force of the market will be
               | too great and my concerns will be laughed at and I'll be
               | called a luddite and told I never should have had an
               | expectation of privacy to begin with.
               | 
               | This is the embrace before the inevitable extinguish.
        
               | nickthegreek wrote:
               | The only solution to your concerns are legislation, and
               | that is not going to happen in America as everyone has a
               | video camera in their pocket and the 1st amendment
               | exists. Private establishments are free to make rules
               | regarding the use of these on their grounds assuming that
               | the user is not using them for a disability related
               | service.
        
               | AlecSchueler wrote:
               | I'm aware of that of course. No one can turn the tide
               | against the market. But why do they bother, then, with
               | the whole show of making it only record with a light? You
               | agree that that's just theatre to seem less invasive than
               | they inevitably will be?
               | 
               | I'm not based in the US so hopefully some local laws will
               | help me out a bit, but at the end of the day, the law is
               | not my moral barometer. I will respect the rights of the
               | users of these devices while also exercising my own
               | rights, as much as I am able to, to treat them as social
               | pariahs.
        
               | cal85 wrote:
               | I think you are very confused about what a reductio ad
               | absurdum is. It is not a fallacy, it's a perfectly valid
               | form of argument (similar to a 'proof by contradiction'
               | in maths), and it doesn't seem to be what you mean here.
        
               | AlecSchueler wrote:
               | Thanks, I'll look into it and update my comment.
        
           | TheHumanist wrote:
           | But aren't the lenses more obvious on these? Just looked at
           | the Glass and I guess they are about as obvious as the lense
           | on that but the glass stands out more for sure because of its
           | design (which I loved).
        
             | itsyaboi wrote:
             | These look like ordinary sunglasses while google glasses
             | were akin to a dragonball z accessory.
        
         | etrautmann wrote:
         | IMO the pushback was against the perception that people wore
         | them to signal that they had $1500 since they didn't do that
         | much and were fairly obviously futuristic on your face. I saw
         | someone climbing in them and my impression was not that they
         | were somehow relevant for the climbing..
        
           | Angostura wrote:
           | The push back was largely about the creepiness of being
           | potentially surveilled all the time. This is just the same
        
             | floren wrote:
             | yeah it would be pretty fucked up if I was recorded all the
             | time, like in every store. Or like walking through a
             | neighborhood and half the doorbells call out as you pass to
             | inform your that they're recording. Or if you do anything
             | slightly embarassing in public and there is a teenager
             | nearby.
        
               | AlecSchueler wrote:
               | We can accept the trade offs for some surveillance while
               | still being critical of new trends. Or maybe you're ready
               | to have a 24/7 livestream from your toilet?
        
               | floren wrote:
               | The toilet came up constantly in discussions of Google
               | Glass, as though the presence of a camera on your head
               | would suddenly turn you into a raving lunatic who pops
               | his head over bathroom stalls and peeks over the urinal
               | dividers.
        
               | AlecSchueler wrote:
               | I'm not sure I saw that argument at the time and I'm not
               | making it now either. I don't know what to do with this
               | response.
        
         | TheHumanist wrote:
         | This is my main concern. These lenses are much more obvious
         | than the Google Lense cameras as well. I'd love to use some
         | cool tech like this but I can absolutely see some people seeing
         | the lenses and being confrontational and trying to act like you
         | are purposefully filming them, or their kids... or something
         | along those lines. Yes, it is legal to film in public but I'm
         | not trying to have those sorts of confrontational interactions.
        
         | 6gvONxR4sf7o wrote:
         | Unfortunately the lesson some people learned from google glass
         | was 'be sneakier.' Hence the design of these.
        
       | m00dy wrote:
       | Obviously this is the future just need a bit more powerful tech.
        
         | criddell wrote:
         | When I see demos like this I think of William Gibson who said
         | "The future is already here - it's just not evenly
         | distributed."
        
       | alonsonic wrote:
       | This is a fantastic demo. I've tried to build these type of
       | prototypes for all Meta Headsets in the past but their very
       | limited API/SDKs block you from doing anything meaningful with
       | computer vision. They are too scared of devs getting access to
       | the camera.
       | 
       | Hope that Apple Vision Pro gives a more robust api to developers
       | and that forces Meta to open up.
       | 
       | I will use this approach for a poc I have in mind. Great job and
       | thank you for open sourcing!
        
         | _giorgio_ wrote:
         | No jailbreak yet.
        
         | devon_c wrote:
         | I did recently try to reverse engineer the connection Instagram
         | are doing with the glasses in order to livestream through the
         | glasses.
         | 
         | However, not too familiar with trawling through decompiled APKs
         | (also presume there's some sort of internal secret they're
         | using too)
         | 
         | No worries!
        
           | fullspectrumdev wrote:
           | That's been on my endless todo list since I got the first
           | version of the View glasses from FB/Meta ages back.
        
         | yunohn wrote:
         | > Hope that Apple Vision Pro gives a more robust api to
         | developers
         | 
         | I was under the impression that Apple is keeping camera access
         | completely locked down?
        
           | procgen wrote:
           | Third-party apps can access a single composite "front
           | camera", but only if a "spatial persona" is found on the
           | device.
           | 
           | https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2023/10094/?time.
           | ..
        
       | codeulike wrote:
       | Hey Meta, send a photo to Eez Discheaperon Amazon
        
       | WhitneyLand wrote:
       | Nice work Devon!
       | 
       | It may be "super hacky" as you say, but these projects are
       | important.
       | 
       | We may have had a theoretical understanding that this was
       | possible, but seeing your demo opens up our experiential
       | understanding.
       | 
       | Lights up totally different parts of the brain.
        
         | johnwheeler wrote:
         | I was thinking the same thing. Obviously this is not meant to
         | be a polished product, but it lights a spark that will
         | eventually grow into a fire. We've always wanted this
         | capability, and this guy has shown us it practically possible
         | now. Doubtless there will be others, but that's the point.
        
       | fgblanch wrote:
       | Very nice hack! I did a very similar project integrating ChatGPT
       | bot but using WhatsApp business account instead of fake facebook
       | contact. I got my account blocked when Meta discovered I'm not a
       | business unfortunately. I'll retake the project with the FB
       | account, it seems much easier.
       | 
       | Great job!
        
       | stuckkeys wrote:
       | I will wait for some kind of version that does not require a
       | facebook account. Cool demo tho.
        
         | charcircuit wrote:
         | It does not require a facebook account. It uses a separate meta
         | account.
        
       | b8 wrote:
       | Matter of time until someone hacks Meta's glasses to cheat on
       | tests.
        
       | padjo wrote:
       | Bookmarklets are still a thing? I just sorta assumed browsers
       | shut them down years ago
        
       | gourneau wrote:
       | Meta folks if you are reading this , please give us a real SDK.
       | Great hack though until we get that!
        
       | paul7986 wrote:
       | What have others experience been using Hey Meta with their Meta
       | glasses? Myself not great as it feels like a beta feature..
       | doesn't run reliably. Tho good effort by them using current
       | technology.
       | 
       | What the glasses do now reliably are taking photos, short videos
       | and transferring them into the Meta View app. Bluetooth audio
       | transferring from my car stereo into the glasses is annoying and
       | I couldn't find a setting to change / stop that.
       | 
       | As for Meta Vision there's so much innovation to happen here,
       | nice!! gives me tons of ideas
        
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       (page generated 2023-11-29 23:01 UTC)