At Meta Connect this year, it was clear that the social media giant is all-in on its burgeoning line of smart glasses. The glasses were ubiquitous at the annual event, where Meta shows off its newest hardware and AI products, with both Meta staff and influencers wearing them. Most of the demos offered by the company this week also involved the glasses.
Among the most notable products was Meta's new, still-unreleased audio-only smart glasses. These glasses come equipped with six microphones but no camera, and have no native way to record surroundings, which should ease privacy concerns. They are significantly lighter than other smart glasses and quite comfortable.
The Meta staffer who demonstrated the glasses emphasized their entertainment and communication options: users can listen to music more comfortably than with earbuds and take phone calls without reaching for a phone.
The glasses will integrate with Muse, Meta's personal agentic system, which can carry out tasks on the user's behalf. The new integration, not yet available to the public, lets wearers speak to Muse and give commands verbally. Meta also plans to personalize the agent, allowing users to pick from an assortment of cute digital avatars.
One journalist who tried the integration found it fun but somewhat comical—the agent requires very direct commands and gets confused if the user talks to anyone else at the same time. In the right context, the integration could be useful for tasks like sending emails or reciting to-do lists while out and about. The glasses can also answer questions on the spot, functioning like a mobile version of ChatGPT.
Additionally, Meta showed a second audio-only pair: new glasses for the hearing impaired. With some 50 million Americans said to have some level of hearing loss, this device serves a clear and practical purpose.