Meta Introduces Augmented Reality with Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

Meta has announced three new pairs of AI smart glasses, including the first Ray-Bans with a built-in screen for augmented reality.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display marks the first heads-up display from a mainstream brand since the failed Google Glass project.

The glasses use classic Wayfarer styling to avoid looking like wearable technology, while still housing a camera, speakers and microphone.

A small colour display is projected inside the right lens, sitting just below the eye line. It can show text, images or even live video calls. The display is only visible to the wearer, while an LED alerts others when the camera is active.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg showcased the glasses at the company’s Connect event in Menlo Park, California.

Zuckerberg said: “Glasses are the only form factor where you can let AI see what you see, hear what you hear”, and eventually generate what you want to generate, such as images or video.

The demo had some issues, which Zuckerberg blamed on the event’s Wi-Fi.

The glasses include a touch panel on the arms and voice control for direct interaction.

They also ship with a water-resistant bracelet called the Neural Band, which detects electrical impulses in the forearm.

This allows the wearer to control the lens interface using hand gestures such as pinches, swipes, taps and rotations. Later in 2025, it will support handwriting using a finger.

The Ray-Ban Display glasses require Bluetooth pairing with an iPhone or Android device.

They support messaging and video calling through WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.

They can show live captions or translations of conversations, offer turn-by-turn walking directions, provide music controls and act as a viewfinder when taking photos.

Meta’s AI chatbot can also provide answers in picture or text form, offering details on landmarks, recipes or artworks.

The glasses last up to six hours of mixed use, with a collapsible charging case extending battery life to 30 hours.

They will launch in the US on September 30, starting at $799, before rolling out in the UK, France, Italy and Canada in early 2026.

Oakley Meta Vanguard

Alongside the Ray-Bans, Meta also revealed the Oakley Meta Vanguard, display-free smart glasses designed for sport.

The wrap-around design resembles Oakley’s Radar and M-frame glasses, but adds a central nose-piece camera, microphones and speakers for music, calls and content capture during exercise.

The Oakley glasses weigh 66g, feature swappable lenses, are water-resistant and offer nine hours of battery life per charge. They also come with replaceable nose pads for a secure fit.

Meta has partnered with Garmin to connect the glasses to its watches and bike computers.

Athletes can request data such as pace, speed, heart rate or distance, while an LED inside flashes when a target metric is reached.

The built-in camera can also automatically capture video clips at milestones such as each kilometre, specific heart rate zones or speed thresholds.

These clips can be stitched with data overlays to create highlight reels that can be shared directly to Strava.

The Oakley Meta Vanguard will cost £499 ($499) and will ship from October 21.

A second generation of the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, with a higher resolution video camera and double the battery life, will also launch at £379 ($379).