In addition to its Quest headsets, which combine virtual reality and augmented reality, the Meta group also offers its famous connected glasses, in partnership with Ray-Ban. As a reminder, these glasses have a camera on board, and allow access to Meta AI, ChatGPT’s competitor, via a voice interface.
And for the moment, if Meta does not indicate how many glasses have been sold, the group is satisfied with this product. “The demand for glasses continues to be very strong”, declared Mark Zuckerberg in October. But that demand could be even stronger next year, thanks to a new feature that Meta could add on future models.
According to a publication in the Financial Times (via Engadget), Meta could indeed equip the next versions of its connected glasses with screens. For the moment, these would not really be augmented reality screens, but a small display that would allow the user to see notifications, as well as responses from the Meta AI artificial intelligence.
Increasingly smart glasses
While waiting for this new version, Meta continues to update its Ray-Ban glasses, so that they are more useful. Recently, the group began testing a feature called Live AI. “Meta AI can see what you see all the time and converse with you more naturally than ever before. Get real-time, hands-free help and inspiration for everyday activities, like preparing meals, gardening, or exploring a new neighborhood”explains Meta.
The group has also developed a real-time translation functionality. And thanks to a collaboration with Shazam, Meta’s connected glasses are able to identify songs.
Otherwise, Meta is already working on real augmented reality glasses, called the Oryon project. Moreover, as the presentation of this project received positive feedback, it would be possible that Meta has already accelerated its development.
In any case, if Meta was able to benefit from a head start in the field of mixed reality, it is today facing increasingly tough competition. Apple already markets the Vision Pro headset. And Google has already formalized its Android XR platform, which will be used by a headset offered by Samsung.
- In addition to AR/VR headsets, the Meta group also markets connected glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban
- According to the latest rumors, the next version of these glasses could have screens
- These screens would show notifications and responses from the Meta AI
- Meta also continues to develop real augmented reality glasses, the prototype of which was presented this year
