Betty Nansen Teatret on Frederiksberg has banned Meta’s camera-equipped smart glasses from its auditorium, becoming the first Danish theater to do so.
The decision was reported on September 1 by DR. Theater director Niels Erling described the ban to the P1 culture program K-live. He said the glasses fit extremely poorly with being present in a theater hall.
The glasses can film, take photographs and record sound very discreetly. According to Erling, the recording function is the main reason for the ban. He said a shared theater experience must be able to go in any direction without anyone worrying about ending up on a feed.
In practice, staff at the theater will check what guests are wearing before they enter the auditorium. Anyone spotted wearing the Meta glasses will be asked to take them off. Erling said the theater has no other option.
Betty Nansen Teatret will also put up signs in the foyer and appeal to what Erling called the audience’s common sense. Asked by K-live whether rules are needed at all, he pointed to existing practice. Audiences are already asked to switch off their phones before a performance begins.
Exceptions and enforcement
There are exceptions to the new rule. Erling said guests with a visual impairment are not covered by the ban. He added that the glasses can do a great deal of good for a specific group of people.
Erling also objected to the notification features. The glasses can tell the wearer about a new email, which he said clashes with a room designed for presence. He noted that filmed theater often works badly, and that this is not accidental.
Part of a wider wave in Danish culture venues
The ban follows similar moves elsewhere in the culture sector. As DR reported, the music venue Radar in Aarhus introduced the first such ban last week. The concert venue Fermaten in Herning has since followed, and Betty Nansen is the first venue in Danish theatre to join.
The glasses have already been the subject of political debate in Denmark. Several parties have discussed banning them in public spaces. In everyday speech they have been nicknamed the “krænkerbrillen”, roughly the violator glasses.
DR has also reported the case of a young woman who was secretly filmed with the glasses and posted on TikTok. That case has fed the wider criticism of the product.
Erling said the ban was not long in the making or carefully planned. Technological development moves quickly, so decisions have to be made quickly. There have been no problems with the glasses at the theater yet, but it wants to stay ahead.
