Meta’s new sensible glasses are coming this week

Meta’s subsequent massive Connect convention is sort of right here, and this yr, we’re anticipating to see a variety of information about glasses. AI-focused {hardware} is all the fad, and Meta arguably already has the very best devices round in its Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses. At this yr’s present, we’re anticipating to see extra about glasses, but additionally some standalone AI updates and even some speak of the metaverse.

Here’s what we’re anticipating from Connect, which is able to characteristic a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that we’ll be overlaying dwell on Wednesday at 8PM ET / 5PM PT.

Smart glasses with a show and a wristband

Meta plans to announce new sensible glasses with a small show in the proper lens that may be managed with hand gestures through a wristband, CNBC reports. The show apparently has a restricted discipline of view and is barely meant to indicate small items of data. The Verge reported on the glasses, codenamed Hypernova, in 2022.

The wristband will apparently use floor electromyography (sEMG) know-how that “reads and interprets the electrical signals from hand movements,” in line with CNBC. The tech comes from CTRL-Labs, a startup Meta acquired in 2019, and Meta demoed it final yr with its augmented actuality Orion glasses. Meta is very optimistic about sEMG know-how; in a latest weblog publish, it mentioned that “sEMG could revolutionize how we interact with our devices” and that sEMG “may just prove to be the perfect input for virtually any device.”

The new glasses are anticipated to value “about $800,” CNBC says, and might be thicker and heavier than a few of Meta’s different sensible glasses choices. And a now-removed video from Meta caught by UploadVR really confirmed a pair of recent glasses with a show with the branding “Meta | Ray-Ban” and “Display,” so it looks like Meta is on the cusp of really launching these.

Smart glasses with no show

Meta’s sensible glasses have been an enormous success — EssilorLuxottica, which produces the Ray-Ban Metas, mentioned that the corporate has offered 2 million pairs of the glasses — and rumors point out that Meta may introduce new fashions at Connect.

CNBC studies that Meta plans to announce third-generation Ray-Ban Metas. The timing would make some sense. Meta launched the previous-generation Ray-Bans about two years in the past, and this yr’s Oakley Meta HSTN Limited Edition glasses have a greater 3K video decision and double the battery life, so maybe Meta will deliver a few of these enhancements over to the Ray-Ban line.

The Meta video noticed by UploadVR additionally confirmed off a pair of recent wraparound “Sphaera” Oakleys with a digital camera on the nostril bridge, so it looks like these may present up at Connect, too.

New Quest VR headsets? We’ll see

Meta launched the Quest 3 in 2023 and the Quest 3S in 2024, nevertheless it doesn’t appear to be we must always count on a brand new Quest at Connect this yr. According to UploadVR, Meta is engaged on an ultra-light headset that offloads the compute to a puck that runs the corporate’s Horizon OS, however the headset isn’t scheduled for launch till 2026.

Meta has additionally began licensing Horizon OS to {hardware} corporations like Lenovo and Asus, and a rumor from earlier this yr indicated that Asus is creating a VR headset codenamed Tarius with eye monitoring and face monitoring. Should that headset be actual, it may debut at Connect.

The firm is promising that Zuckerberg will contact on the metaverse not directly, so we’ll have to attend and see what that truly means.

Meta, like most tech corporations, is obsessive about AI proper now, so it appears seemingly the corporate will tout AI options coming to its apps and {hardware}. Meta lately relaunched its companion app for its sensible glasses as a standalone Meta AI app that allows you to browse AI-generated creations posted by different customers, and Meta may additional construct out its social options. The firm has additionally continued so as to add AI instruments to its sensible glasses, so along with brand-new {hardware}, present {hardware} may get some AI-focused upgrades.