Meta has announced three new pairs of AI-powered smart glasses, featuring the inaugural Ray-Ban design with a integrated screen for augmented reality experiences.
A Contemporary Take on Wearable Tech
These smart glasses mark the first widely recognized smart glasses with a visual interface since the much-discussed earlier attempt. Designed with a timeless iconic appearance, they avoid appearing too techie, while still incorporating a recording device, speakers, and microphone.
A small, vibrant, and crisp visual screen is projected onto the inside of the right lens, seeming to float just below the wearer’s eye line. This display can present anything from messages and graphics to real-time communication. Importantly, the display is only apparent during use and does not be observed from the outside. An indicator light alerts people nearby when the recording function is in use.
“Glasses are the only device type that you can enable artificial intelligence see what you see, hear what you hear,” mentioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the annual event.
Capabilities and Performance
Similar to earlier versions, the latest glasses include a control surface on the temples and voice control for hands-free interaction. They also come with a water-resistant wristband that detects electrical impulses in the lower arm, enabling navigation of the digital system via motions. This band, which functions like a screenless smartwatch, can detect pinches, swipes, rotations, and other familiar gestures. In the future, it will also support handwriting using a digit.
The devices need a wireless connection to an Android or Apple device and support communication and video calling through texts and multiple apps, including Messenger and social platforms. They can show subtitles or translations of dialogues, offer step-by-step navigation, audio control, and even serve as a viewfinder when capturing images.
Battery Life and Release
These wearables operate for up to six hours of mixed use and charge in a foldable case for up to over a day of total power. Meta’s virtual assistant can also provide image-based and written answers to queries, such as cooking steps, details on art or monuments, and other real-world information via the camera.
The Meta Ray-Ban Display will be available in the US from 30 September starting at 799 dollars before expanding to the UK, French market, Italian region, and Canadian territory in the first part of 2026.
Sports-Focused Smartwear
In addition to the display-equipped glasses, the company also unveiled a set of display-free Oakley wearables designed for sport. The sports edition features a curved design similar to the company’s M-frame athletic eyewear, but incorporates a central recorder in the nose piece, microphones, and sound outputs for audio, communications, assistant features, and content capture during workouts. Weighing 66g, they include interchangeable lenses, splash protection, up to extended use per charge, and a snug fit with replaceable bridges in different dimensions.
Meta has teamed up with Garmin to sync the glasses with the company’s watches and bike computers. Users can request metrics such as current speed, pulse, or distance during runs or additional exercises, while an LED within the frames blinks when achieving a target metric.
The camera can also on its own record short films when the user reaches targets such as every kilometre, certain speeds, elevation, or pulse limits, combining them with performance stats to create a summary video of key events from races, climbs, or training sessions. Content can be shared directly to fitness social networks.
These sports glasses will cost £499 (€549/499 dollars), shipping from late October. At the same time, a updated new version of the original smart eyewear model with double the battery life and a sharper recording lens is available for £379 (419 euros/$379).
