Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) has announced the release of its new smart glasses, named the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, at its Connect launch event.
The new eyewear, starting at $299, can take calls, play some music, help do live streams, and even search for things that you look at. The device is available for pre-order and will be on sale from Oct. 17.
While launching the product during the event, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “These are the first smart glasses that are built-in shipping with Meta AI in them. Starting in the U.S., you’re going to get the state-of-the-art AI that you can interact with hands-free wherever you go.”
Simply put, the glasses can understand what a user looks at when they ask questions. For example, if you are visiting a place and come across a building that is not familiar, ask Meta’s latest smart glasses to provide some context.
Similarly, if you are visiting a foreign land and want to translate any information in your language, use Meta smart glasses.
Adding to the feature list, the smart glasses now allow users to initiate a livestream to Facebook or Instagram with a few taps on the stem. A white light pulses around the lens to indicate recording, raising serious privacy questions.
These $META Smart Glasses look insane! They can essentially let you Google anything you are looking at. pic.twitter.com/vM4HzcMJjL
— Stocktwits (@Stocktwits) September 27, 2023
Meta’s updated smart glasses are designed with two core functions in mind.
First, it aims to replace headphones with a personal audio system similar to those seen in Amazon’s Echo Frames. The glasses also feature an upgraded microphone system with five microphones, including one in the nose bridge, to improve call clarity and voice command reception.
The second primary function of the glasses is as a camera. The device houses small camera lenses on each right temple, capable of taking 12-megapixel photos and 1080p videos.
Another significant upgrade from the previous generation, the glasses have a storage capacity of 500 photos and 100 30-second videos, all of which can be synced through the Meta View app.
The device is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 processor and is expected to last between four and six hours of active use.
Also, the design, created in partnership with Ray-Ban, features multiple new colors and lens options.
Meta has turned this idea, once seen as eccentric for those deeply immersed in the online world, into something that everyday people might consider purchasing, even if they don’t intend to share a large amount of their content, according to Engadget.
On the other hand, popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee again reminded people about Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Glass.
This is our annual reminder that Google Glass was SO. FAR. Ahead of its time.
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) September 27, 2023
For the unversed, in May this year, Google announced that it halted sales of its Glass Enterprise smart glasses and planned to discontinue the software support earlier this month.
Introduced in 2013 at $1,500, Google Glass was a lightweight wearable gadget featuring a transparent display for presenting users with bite-sized information.
Nevertheless, the device’s integrated camera raised privacy apprehensions, and it failed to gain widespread adoption as a consumer product, prompting Google to reposition it as an enterprise tool.
Produced in association with Benzinga