Meta unveils its first smart glasses with a built-in display

The new Ray-Bans, which will go on sale on September 30, are controlled by a neural bracelet.

Meta has unveiled its first smart glasses with a built-in display, marking another step in the company's journey toward augmented reality glasses.

Mark Zuckerberg , CEO of Meta, showed off the Meta Ray-Ban Display during the opening keynote of his Meta Connect developer event held yesterday in San Francisco (USA). Zuckerberg is convinced that eyewear will be the next big platform for digital interaction.

The new glasses, codenamed Hypernova during their development, allow messages, video calls, and responses from Meta's smart assistant to be displayed on a screen embedded in a lens. Zuckerberg explained that this screen doesn't interfere with the view of the surroundings and can be hidden when not in use. The device also features speakers and cameras like the current Ray-Ban smart models.

The glasses, which will go on sale later this month starting at $799 , are controlled by a wristband capable of detecting small hand movements , an accessory Zuckerberg billed as "the world's first consumer neural interface."

Meta's CEO believes the glasses have the potential to displace smartphones as the major consumer device in the coming era of superintelligence . During his presentation, the executive argued that they are the ideal format for the future era in which AI surpasses human intelligence. They are an intermediate step toward Orion , Meta's augmented reality project, which is still far from commercialization due to technical challenges and costs of around $10,000.

Zuckerberg appeared on stage at Menlo Park wearing the smart glasses. However, during the live demo, he struggled to reach his CTO, Andrew Bosworth.

The company also unveiled an upgraded version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses with longer battery life (up to eight hours) and improved speakers and cameras that capture 3K video. Meta has been developing smart glasses with EssilorLuxottica since 2019, a long-term partnership that was renewed last year. The digital giant also announced yesterday a new AI-powered model as part of its partnership with Oakley , focused on sports use, which will go on sale on October 21 for $499.

These devices incorporate an artificial intelligence assistant that, using a camera and speakers, can see and hear the user's surroundings. They also allow users to take photos and record videos, play music, and answer questions by voice.