Meta’s latest AI glasses: fashion or super-intelligence?

Category: (Self-Study) Technology/Innovations

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Meta has unveiled its latest AI-powered smart glasses at its annual developers’ conference in California. The device, created in partnership with Ray-Ban, is pitched as the next step in wearable technology, combining a high-resolution display with voice, camera and gesture controls. The launch is part of a trend that has seen major tech firms racing to position glasses as a platform for artificial intelligence, combining fashion and computing.

On stage at Meta’s Connect conference in Menlo Park, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the device as part of a wider pitch about how artificial intelligence could become seamlessly integrated into everyday tasks. The glasses combine a built-in display, microphones, speakers and cameras, while the accompanying Neural Band wrist device allows users to control functions with subtle hand movements.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, says, “Glasses are the ideal form factor for personal superintelligence because they let you stay present in the moment, while getting access to all of these AI capabilities that make you smarter, help you communicate better, improve your memory, improve your senses.”

The glasses feature a discreet in-lens display, allowing users to check messages, preview photos, get directions or view live translations without taking out a phone.

Ankit Brahmbhatt, Director of Product Management at Meta, says, “We feel very much that this is already going to make you much more heads up. And in the moment, with eye glasses, you actually have this sense of being able to engage.”

Each pair is bundled with the new Meta Neural Band, a wrist-worn device that uses electromyography to turn subtle muscle movements into digital commands. A small pinch of the fingers or a flick of the wrist can be used to scroll, select or even type, which removes the need to touch the glasses or use a smartphone. It also highlights accessibility, with potential benefits for people who have limited mobility or tremors.

The company says this is just one part of its vision for glasses as a new computing platform, which aims to keep users connected to AI while remaining present in the world around them.

This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.

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[Promotional video featuring an animated view of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses visualization and a person using the glasses with their hand]

[Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg giving speech on stage and speaking at its annual Meta Connect developers conference at its headquarters in Menlo Park]

[Promotional video featuring an animated view of AR glasses visualization as people converse at a dinner table, showcasing the device’s transcription feature]

[Ankit Brahmbhatt wearing Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses]

Ankit Brahmbhatt (interview): “We feel very much that this is already going to make you much more heads up. And in the moment, with eye glasses, you actually have this sense of being able to engage.”

[Person using Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses]

[Rokid glasses at its IFA Showstoppers stand]

Liang Guan (interview): “This is the Rokid glasses. This is the world’s first all feature, all in one, AI AR glasses, so currently you can see there’s a lot of AI glasses or AR glasses on the market, but they either have no display or they have no camera, so Rokid is the first all in one really light weight AI and AR glasses.”

[Rokid glasses at its IFA Showstoppers stand]

Liang Guan (interview): “There’s many YouTubers, there’s many TikTokers, so sometimes if you need to take different pictures or video, so with the glasses, it’s very easy to take like the first person to view video. So I would say the YouTuber or the TikToker, they are the first target audience. The second one is the world traveller or the business people. For example, I travel to Europe, I travel to the U.S., I travel to many smaller countries. I speak Chinese, I speak English I speak a little bit of German, but not much and I cannot understand everybody right but with this glass I will be able to talk to everybody and talk to also the local people, you know for many many different companies (communities) as well.”

[Rokid glasses at its IFA Showstoppers stand]

Gemma Briggs (interview): “There’s a really famous study where people walking along, completing a task on their phone didn’t notice a unicycling clown riding in front of them. So this is the same premise. It’s inattentional blindness, but it’s the high stakes situation. So driving is dynamic. It’s fast paced.”

[Promotional video featuring an animated view of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses visualization]

Gemma Briggs (interview): “My research has demonstrated that it really doesn’t make any difference whether you’re touching, holding, manipulating your phone, or whether it’s a hands free conversation or phone use. You’re still far more likely to be distracted. And that means you’re four times more likely to be involved in a collision.”

[Promotional video featuring an animated view of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses visualization and people using the glasses with their hands]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.