Meta Set to Unveil AR Glasses at Connect Conference Amid AI and VR Updates

Meta is gearing up to kick off its annual Connect conference at its California headquarters, where it is expected to unveil its first augmented reality (AR) glasses and announce updates to its virtual reality and artificial intelligence products.

Among the anticipated AI updates is an audio enhancement that allows users to choose a voice for Meta’s chatbot, with options to sound like celebrities such as Judi Dench and John Cena, according to Reuters.

The AR glasses reveal has been a long-anticipated goal for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who sees AR technology as a cornerstone of his vision for the immersive “metaverse” since the company’s strategic pivot in 2021. However, Meta has faced significant technical hurdles with its AR initiative, leading the head of its metaverse-focused Reality Labs to acknowledge last year that a viable market-ready product was still “a few years away.”

Meta has invested tens of billions of dollars in AI, AR, and other metaverse technologies, raising its capital expenditure forecast for 2024 to an unprecedented $37 billion to $40 billion. The Reality Labs division reported an $8.3 billion loss in the first half of this year, following a $16 billion loss last year.

For now, the first generation of AR glasses is expected to be distributed internally and to select developers, with each unit costing tens of thousands of dollars to produce. Meta aims to release the first commercial version to consumers by 2027, anticipating that technological advancements will lower production costs by then.

Zuckerberg hinted at the progress being made, stating during a live podcast taping that Meta is “pretty close to being able to show off the first prototype” of the AR glasses.

In the meantime, Meta has found unexpected success with its camera-equipped Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which have gained popularity due to the addition of an AI-powered digital assistant announced at last year’s Connect conference. Although specific sales figures have not been disclosed, the CEO of Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica reported that more of the new generation sold in just a few months than the previous model did in two years. Market research firm IDC estimates over 700,000 pairs have shipped since the update.

Meta recently extended its partnership with EssilorLuxottica, leading to speculation that future AR glasses may also carry the Ray-Ban brand. The roadmap for these smart glasses includes plans for a next generation featuring a viewfinder capable of displaying basic text and images through the lenses, along with ongoing software updates to enhance the AI assistant’s capabilities, including object recognition and conversation