Change My Mind: These Sunglasses Are the Future of Golf Instruction

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

What We Tried:

Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. These tech-packed sunglasses feature onboard speakers and a FPV camera for capturing video and photos. They also integrate seamlessly with Meta AI to answer questions, take phone calls and send text messages.

Who Tried It:

Connor. Director of Soft Goods Testing and resident sneakerhead. Outside of golf, tech is my favorite hobby. Just ask my wife how many different phones I’ve had in the last two years. When I see something cool in the tech world, I gravitate towards it.

Wait … What’s the Application to Golf?

You’re probably wondering why the heck I’d review smart sunglasses. Just hear me out.

What if I told you Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses could be the future of online golf coaching?

Think of it this way. These sunglasses have the ability to shoot FPV (first-person video). This allows you to see exactly what you see as you perform an activity … like, say, swinging a golf club.

My hunch is that these smart sunglasses can provide a lot of real, raw feedback on your swing and, thus, allow you (or a coach) to make the necessary adjustments.

I set out to test my little theory. Over the past two months, I’ve taken the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to the golf course. Between time inside on a simulator and outside at the range, I captured a lot of swing videos.

Here’s a quick sample of one from both indoors and outdoors.

Right away, you can get a sense of how this could be beneficial to the golf swing and golf instruction. After my first range session with the sunglasses, I started to see that I was letting my head get way too far behind the ball (and was even losing sight of it at times).

From here, I was able to adjust accordingly.

Things like ball position, grip, etc., can be seen from the view of the golfer. I felt like the glasses did a great job at accurately capturing exactly what I was looking at, which made it easier to fix my faults.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Enough of my crappy swing. (It still doesn’t look good in FPV.)

Where do we go from here?

This is where it gets interesting. Not only can you capture FPV videos with the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (you’re capped at 30 seconds of recording per video), but they also have the ability to livestream video directly to Facebook or Instagram.

See where I’m going with this?

You’re working with a coach. They want to tune in to your practice session. With the tap of a button on your sunglasses, you can start a livestream that allows your coach to watch the entire session. From here, your instructor can offer the same level of feedback that they’d be able to in person.

Is it a perfect solution? Probably not. But for those who can’t see a coach due to distance or time constraints, I feel like this could be a viable option.

What Else Do They Do?

What about applications outside of golf? Surely if I’m going to spend $300 on a pair of sunglasses, they’d be more useful than a simple teaching tool, right?

Right.

As I alluded to earlier, these sunglasses are super-smart. Besides taking hands-free calls, sending text messages, etc., the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have an on-board AI assistant.

While functionality is limited to simple questions and tasks (i.e., How long should I cook ground beef for), the AI module opens up a host of doors for future tech … imagine being able to look at a golf ball and having Meta be able to tell you exactly what it is.

For right now, though, I’ll stick to making phone calls and listening to a few jams.

Am I Crazy?

Am I crazy to think the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are the future of golf instruction? Am I the only one who sees the golf application of these otherwise smart sunglasses?

Let me know in the comments. Until then, I’ll keep taking FPV of my “improving” swing and hope that, somehow, I find the cure to all of my swing shortcomings.