Facebook employees with video camera glasses are prowling the streets to do research on privacy

Facebook employees with video camera glasses are prowling the streets to do research on privacy

Facebook is working on smartglasses that CEO Mark Zuckerberg says will launch in 2021.

In the meantime, the social media giant is deploying employees and contractors into public spaces equipped with smartglasses that map the world by capturing photos.

The initiative is known as "Project Aria."

The research is intended to inform best practices for the future, including getting ahead of potential privacy concerns, Facebook said. In practice, the project will capture a lot of photos of public spaces.

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Facebook is years deep into a project that aims to replace smartphones with augmented reality glasses.

Its first step toward that goal, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a broadcast on Wednesday, is creating a set of smartglasses “” standard eyeglasses, but with "smart" functionality like cameras and wireless