To expand its bet that it will become an essential accessory for users around the world, Meta has unveiled a new range of smart glasses equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Social media giant boss Mark Zuckerberg has teamed up with Sunglasses Brands Ray-Ban and Oakley to unveil a series of devices at the annual developer conference, Meta Connect.
The company also introduced so-called neural wristbands that pair with Metaray-Ban display glasses, allowing users to perform tasks such as sending messages with small hand gestures.
The event is due to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owners face continuing scrutiny about the impact of the product, especially on children.
He called the technology a “huge scientific breakthrough” and an audience of hundreds gathered at the company's Silicon Valley campus.
The Meta Ray-Ban display comes with a full-color, high-resolution screen of the lens that allows users to make video calls and display messages. It also features a 12-megapixel camera.
Zuckerberg hopes Meta's line of smart accessories will become an important platform for integrating the artificial intelligence tool, Meta AI, into people's lives.
Analysts say smart glasses are more likely to be successful than the multi-billion-dollar metaverse project. This is a virtual world for connecting users across the digital environment.
“Unlike VR headsets, glasses are a daily, non-substantial form factor,” says Forrester VP of Research Director Mike Proulx.
However, he added, “Meta is in Meta to convince the majority of people who don't own AI glasses that the benefits outweigh the costs.”
The company has not discussed sales information, but said it is understood that since it entered the market in 2023 it has sold around 2 million pairs of smart glasses.
The display model will be available this month and will be available for $799 (£586), several hundred dollars more than Meta's current smart glasses.
Leo Gebbie of CCS Insight said she is skeptical of gaining as much traction as Meta's other smart glass models.
“The Ray-Ban is doing well because it's easy to use, unobtrusive and relatively affordable,” Gebbie said.
Meta is currently in the midst of massive spending to boost AI operations.
Zuckerberg said in July that the company would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on building a vast US AI data center.
One of the sites is expected to cover almost the size of Manhattan area.
Investments in AI infrastructure are complemented by enormous spending in hiring top talent from rival companies.
Meta says it develops what it calls “super intelligence.”
Earlier Wednesday, suicide victim activists and their families protested at Meta's New York headquarters, demanding more protective measures on social media platforms, including those owned by the company.
Last week, two former meta-safety researchers testified before the US Senate that Meta is hiding potential harm to children derived from virtual reality products.
Jason Sattizahn and Cayce Savage said the company told in-house researchers to avoid jobs that could generate evidence of harm to children with VR products.
Meta denied the allegations and called the allegations “nonsense.”
