Runners Record Road Crossings in Under a Second With Meta Glasses
A writer's setup starts video capture in under a second when a car approaches, then holds three-minute clips before syncing them to a phone.
By Enzo Conti ·
Runners trying to document a close call on the road can now start recording in less than a second without reaching for a phone. A writer who took up running this summer said they sometimes speed up to avoid being hit by a car, including at crosswalks, and wanted a way to capture an incident while on foot. Holding a phone while running was not workable, and an armband holster would not release the device fast enough to film a moment as it happened.
The camera built into Meta's AI glasses can serve that purpose, according to Nick, a writer at 9to5Google, in an article published on 2026-10-23. Nick already wore Meta glasses on every run to shoot short clips for Strava with smartwatch health stats overlaid on the video, so adding a few more along the route required little change. When a car approaches, Nick holds the camera button to begin recording, then presses the button again to stop manually after crossing the road.
The glasses record in 3-minute segments, so a clip is unlikely to cut off before a problem unfolds. Footage stays on the glasses until they reconnect to the phone, then syncs automatically. Nick calls the process about as effortless as it gets and describes it as insurance if something goes wrong on a run.
Nick wears a Meta Nova pair and an Oakley Meta HSTN pair on regular runs. For people who want to try the setup, Nick recommends starting with the Oakley Meta HSTN glasses, citing their tight fit. The cheaper Meta-branded pairs without Ray-Ban or Oakley branding are the better budget choice, since Nick says there is no functional difference among Meta's latest models. Nick names Rokid AI Glasses as the best alternative they have used for anyone wanting to avoid Meta.
Nick said they would be unlikely to choose a pair without a camera if buying today, and acknowledged some negativity around including cameras in the glasses while saying there are too many good reasons to have one available.
Meta's glasses include a camera button on the frame. Recording starts when the button is held and stops when it is pressed again, with clips stored locally until the device reconnects to the phone.
Source: 9to5Google
