Sunglasses protect your eyes from the sun’s rays and if you want to record a video, you have a smartphone in your pocket. Meta then came up with the idea of combining the two in his smart sunglasses. In a marketing stunt intended to mock these smart glasses equipped with video cameras, the company behind the search engine DuckDuckGo has launched its own “smart” sunglasses.
A promotional video posted on DuckDuckGo’s social media reveals a supposedly remarkable invention called sunglasses. Instead of offering AI, cameras, and technology that can record and submit data to the cloud, DuckDuckGo’s sunglasses are designed to block the sun. The revolutionary idea also comes at a rather reasonable price, at $35. That’s a lot less than Meta’s line of Ray-Ban smart sunglasses, which can cost up to around $459. DuckDuckGo sunglasses even have little icons that indicate they don’t have Wi-Fi, camera, or notifications.
The DuckDuckGo brand of sunglasses is called DuckDuckGo Paso Robles. They are available for purchase online, and people have bought so many that they have sold out, according to a social media post. The video posted to DuckDuckGo’s YouTube channel has more than 250,000 views and more than 1,100 comments from people sharing how much they like the idea and that they bought some themselves.
The problem with Meta’s AI glasses
Privacy is a concern for many who fear that the Meta glasses could be recording at any time without them realizing it. Even with a light indicating that the smart glasses are recording, hackers find a way to disable the feature, preventing others from seeing the light. This led Meta to disable cameras for smart glass modders that tamper with the privacy light.
The fear of being recorded without consent and knowledge has even led companies to ban the wearing of Meta’s smart glasses. In an effort to reduce and stop the invasion of privacy of guests and customers in public places, Meta’s smart glasses series is no longer allowed in certain restaurants.
DuckDuckGo apparently sought to draw attention to Meta’s privacy issues with his video featuring his normal sunglasses. It was such an interesting promotion that even popular satirical site The Onion published an article and featured DuckDuckGo on its social media channels. DuckDuckGo plans to release more of its sunglasses later as they have captured the public’s imagination, but glasses aren’t the only thing people are interested in. They also flock to DuckDuckGo’s search engine.
DuckDuckGo has been gaining more and more interest lately
A DuckDuckGo social media post proclaimed that people were abandoning Google’s search engine for their own. In one week, DuckDuckGo saw a 30% increase in installs, saying this was because people were fed up with Google’s increasing use of AI across its entire ecosystem.
DuckDuckGo’s sunglasses may have started as a joke about the ridiculousness of people finding Meta’s smart sunglasses, but they’re a hot topic in the age of growing AI. This increased use of AI in technology is just one of the reasons people are switching search engines and abandoning Google Search.
DuckDuckGo not only strives to be AI-free in its “smart” sunglasses, but also on its website. Reports indicate that its site has also seen an increase in visitors, with an increase of approximately 22.7% week-over-week. Installs on Apple’s iOS devices also increased week over week, with peak growth of 69.9%. DuckDuckGo’s marketing appears to be effective as more and more people flock to its search engine and purchase its sunglasses. However, it is unclear whether sunglasses without AI, without notifications, and without a camera will ever be fully accepted.
