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Meta unveiled new smart glasses on Wednesday as it pushed ahead with its vision of blending real and virtual worlds, despite the strategy inflicting heavy financial losses.
The company introduced Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, which feature built-in screens that allow wearers to view messages, photos, and other content as if looking at a smartphone.
Touted as Meta’s most advanced AI glasses, Ray-Ban Display is paired with sensor-equipped bracelets called neural bands, enabling users to control the eyewear through subtle finger movements. The glasses are priced at $799.
“Our aim is to create stylish glasses that provide personal superintelligence and a sense of presence using realistic holograms,” said Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg as he launched the new eyewear at the firm’s annual developers’ conference. “These ideas together are what we call the metaverse.”
Zuckerberg predicted that AI-powered smart glasses would become the “next major computing platform,” ultimately replacing smartphones.
Meta began funnelling vast resources into virtual reality and the metaverse four years ago, rebranding from Facebook to Meta in 2021 to underline its new direction. Yet its Reality Labs division, responsible for VR and AR projects, continues to bleed cash — losing $4.5 billion in the second quarter of this year against revenue of only $370 million.
“There is no realistic chance of smart glasses sales making this division profitable in the short term,” noted CCS Insight analyst Leo Gebbie. “This is a long-term strategy to break free from smartphones, where Apple and Google dominate, and to carve out Meta’s role in wearables.”
Meta’s earlier collaboration with Ray-Ban proved more successful, offering features such as cameras, music playback, and AI-powered voice interactions. Its new Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta Vanguard ranges build on that partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley.
Ray-Ban Meta glasses, already the world’s top-selling AI eyewear, include built-in cameras, digital assistant access, and real-time translation. They start at $379. Meanwhile, Oakley Meta Vanguard, priced at $499, is designed for sport, offering an action camera, links to fitness apps, and immersive audio.
The global smart glasses market, valued at nearly $2 billion last year, is expected to reach $8.26 billion annually by 2030, according to Grand View Research.
Meta insists the future is clear: “AI glasses connect us to real-world superpowers while keeping us present in the moment.”
