November 28, 2025
Spy specs vs snitch shades
Show HN: Ray-BANNED, Glasses to detect smart-glasses that have cameras
Snitch Shades: Crowd wants Airbnb sweeps, bust 'Zuck glasses'
TLDR: A DIY “Ray-BANNED” project aims to spot camera smart-glasses using infrared light and Bluetooth signals, even playing a Zelda jingle on detection. Commenters split between Airbnb sweep enthusiasm and practical doubts, pushing for better reliability and even the ironic idea of using a camera to find cameras.
A hacker dropped “Ray-BANNED,” a DIY pair of detector glasses that try to spot camera-equipped smart shades using infrared light and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE—those tiny radio pings gadgets send). When Meta Ray-Bans pop up, the glasses reportedly play the Legend of Zelda “secret found” jingle—and the comments went feral. The hottest vibe? Privacy vigilantes ready to sweep Airbnbs for hidden cams, with one fan basically shouting “where do I buy the snitch specs?” while another dunked on the idea of wearing detectors when “most targets are stationary.”
The thread split into two camps: the “bust ‘Zuck glasses’ now” crowd vs. the “make this actually work” crew. BLE fingerprinting got cheers, but skeptics noted it only reliably pings during pairing or power-on, not while you’re casually livestreaming your latte. The optics approach—blasting infrared and hunting for the camera’s cat-eye reflectivity—was called clever but flaky. The creator even cited OG anti-camera research from 2005 here and modern work here, then admitted consistency is hard without a camera and controlled angles. Cue the spicy suggestion: "use a camera to find cameras," even if it feels too ironic.
Best moment? A commenter crowning the line “I think the idea behind this approach is sound (actually it’s light)” as top-tier nerd wit. The internet wants portable anti-spy shades—and it wants them to sing when they catch you.
Key Points
- •Ban-Rays explores detecting camera-equipped smart glasses via optical IR sensing and networking (BLE/Wi‑Fi).
- •BLE fingerprinting has been the easiest and most reliable so far, detecting Meta Ray‑Ban advertisements during pairing/power-on.
- •Optical tests show weak, inconsistent signals from Meta Ray‑Bans, even at close range and across 850/940 nm IR LEDs.
- •A structured sweep pattern and multi-wavelength analysis are proposed to improve optical classification without using a camera.
- •The IR prototype uses Arduino Uno, IR LEDs, a photodiode, and a 2N2222A transistor; networking detection may require observing BLE CONNECT_REQ.