Smart glasses are arguably the Holy Grail when it comes to tech adoption, since many have tried and none has succeeded. Despite the likes of Google LLC and Snap Inc. trying and dismally failing, Facebook Inc. has joined the club with the launch of its own take on smart glasses.

First reported in March, Facebook’s smart glasses launched today under the name of “Ray-Ban Stories.” Facebook is pitching the smart glasses as giving users an “authentic way to capture photos and video, share your adventures and listen to music or take phone calls.

The oddly named smart glasses retail at $299 and are initially available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and the U.K. The glasses are available in 20 “style combinations.”

Under the hood, the technical specs are interesting. The Facebook smart glasses include dual 5-megapixel cameras that are said to “let you capture life’s spontaneous moments as they happen from a unique first-person perspective.”

“You can easily record the world as you see it, taking photos and up to 30-second videos using the capture button or hands-free with Facebook Assistant voice commands,” Facebook notes in its announcement post.

Facebook noted that hard-wired capture LEDs light up to let people know when you’re taking a photo or video. Facebook caring about privacy is arguably interesting, if rather absurd given how much it knows about its users.

The smart glasses also include streamlined, open-ear speakers and the Ray-Ban Stories three-microphone audio array is described as delivering richer voice and sound transmissions for calls and videos.

“Beamforming” technology, which is a signal processing technique used in sensor arrays for directional signal transmission or reception, is also deployed on the smart glasses. A background noise suppression algorithm is also added to provide an enhanced calling experience.

The obvious skepticism aside, the idea is not that bad. Tying up with Ray-Ban is a positive. Whereas Google and Snap offered what some considered clunky-looking products, the Facebook model looks fairly reasonable. It doesn’t stand out as being tech glasses and that could help, in theory, with the appeal.

Ray-Bans have never been particularly cheap given the Luxottica Group SpA global glasses cabal, and the Facebook collaboration isn’t either. It’s easy to dismiss Facebook’s smart glasses given the history of companies that attempted similar in the space. They may well yet fail, but it’s the best take to date on trying to bring to market something people might like.

Photo: Facebook