When augmented reality meets frustrated reality, this is the story of when Santa Claus (or rather a loved one who clearly wants to test my patience) gave me a pair of Meta, Ray-Ban glasses. A total immersion in a world where my eyes become screens, and where technology merges with my style. Reality? A total immersion in a physical world where I fight with a capricious application, and where technology merges especially with my nerves.

As soon as I open the package, I am won over: a beautiful frame, an elegant design, Gary Grant’s Wayfair in “North by Northwest” designed to make me look like a Silicon Valley genius on vacation in Saint-Tropez with my Russian friends.

However, before you can even play cyborg, you have to go through the configuration: application to download, account to create, update to do… Between two reboots, and a forgotten password, I feel a deep connection with my ancestor, homo sapience who also had to fight to survive, but against wolves and not a dialog box.

Once the glasses are operational, I try a first voice command: “Take a photo”. Silence. Then: “HEY META, MAKE A PHOTO!”. Result: I just woke up my cat, and my neighbor thinks I’m talking to my mistress “Hey Meta, put on your leather suit”. Finally, after three tries and a prayer to Hermes “God of travel and communications”, the photo is triggered… and on the wall, “horror”, it’s me in the mirror!

These glasses promise to give me live information without taking out my phone. Great! Except that the notifications appear at completely inopportune times. Example: in the middle of a conversation with my mother-in-law, a message pops up -30% on “dildos”. Thank you, Meta, for this timely intervention in my private life.

And when Silicon Valley announces a “correct” autonomy, it means in marketing language that you watch three Instagram stories and take a photo of your coffee. You find yourself as blind as Master Yoda without his glasses. In fact, the batteries have been improved compared to the first version.

Revolutionary? Yes, in the sense that they transform my daily life into a series of incredible experiences and technological frustrations. But, they also allow me to live a great moment of science fiction by wondering if I am not already a character from “Black Mirror”. Thank you Santa, I will send you a voice message… as soon as my glasses want to hear it!

But apart from this joke to make you laugh, finally, after having tamed the beast, it is a great product that I appreciate a lot. And then it will prevent you from having your mobile phone stolen in the street, that’s already not bad!

FM