Cinemas became the latest institution to move against Meta smart glasses on Thursday. The UK Cinema Association said many operators are introducing policies to restrict camera-enabled eyewear. It gave two reasons: film piracy, and customer privacy.
Taken alone, that is a trade body managing a risk. Taken with the past fortnight, it is something else. American school districts, a federal immigration agency, a hacker conference, NBA arenas and a British pub chain have all reached the same conclusion about the same product. Their reasons have almost nothing in common.
Operators are “mindful of the issues around privacy and film piracy” raised by the technology, the association said. Many now have policies “to prohibit and/or restrict the wearing of camera-enabled smart glasses in particular in their venues”. It knows of no outright bans by members yet. The body represents more than 90% of UK cinema operators by number and by market share.
Accessibility complicates the picture, and the association said so. Smart glasses can deliver bespoke subtitles. They can also help viewers with sight loss or hearing loss.
The cinema policy is twelve years old
