Meta Unveils Smart Glasses with In-Lens Display & Neural Wristband

The new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses come with a Neural Band, allowing users to interact with the UI using subtle hand movements

Image: Meta

Are we heading towards a new era of wearables? Meta, a leader in the augmented reality space, is taking its smart glasses game to the next level. The company has officially introduced the new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which now feature an innovative in-lens display and, for private control, a groundbreaking Neural Wristband. These new Meta glasses are priced at $799, with pre-orders beginning Thursday, September 18th, and general availability from September 30th.

A Groundbreaking New Wearable

During a highly anticipated Wednesday event, Meta finally showcased the new Ray-Ban glasses with an in-lens display and the accompanying Neural Wristband. The company has dubbed this new product the “Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses,” a type of integrated wearable the tech world has not seen before. The new Ray-Ban glasses feature a display placed discreetly in the right lens, allowing you to see turn-by-turn directions, check messages, or even view AI responses directly from your glasses. This is a significant and important advancement in the augmented reality world. The high-resolution, full-color display is small and remains hidden until you need it, ensuring it doesn't obstruct your view.

Display Designed for Glanceable Information

Image: Meta

So, this new in-lens display is primarily for glanceable, contextual information, not for immersive, full-screen media. This is a deliberate and major difference from competitors like XReal, whose glasses also have a display but typically require a wired connection to a PC or phone. Meta attributes the glasses' display for just “some of your everyday tasks.” The company explains these hands-free glasses by stating, “It’s the first product that takes microphones, speakers, cameras, and a full-color display backed with compute and AI — and puts it all together in a single device that’s stylish and comfortable.” The overall design is quite similar to the first two generations of Meta Ray-Ban glasses (which only offered open-ear audio for music and calls, along with a camera and voice assistant). However, this new model brings all those core features together with a new display, which was a notable absence in previous models.

The Neural Wristband: A New Way to Interact

Image: Meta

The truly new element introduced with the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses is the groundbreaking wristband, which uses electromyography (EMG). This innovative technology makes it possible to control the display with subtle muscle movements, allowing you to interact with the user interface (UI) intuitively. The company has named this wearable "Meta Neural Band," as it eliminates the need for physical buttons or touchscreens to interact with the device. With the new Neural Band on your wrist, you can control the Ray-Ban glasses with simple gestures, like a pinch of your fingers, a wrist rotation, or a thumb swipe, without needing to physically touch the frames or use voice commands.

Accessibility and Durability

Meta shared details about the extensive research behind the Neural Band, claiming it is "the product of years of surface electromyography (EMG) research with nearly 200,000 research participants." Since everyone's muscle movements vary, Meta also claims to have made the technology highly accessible for individuals with injuries. “From an accessibility perspective, muscle signals at the wrist can provide control signals for people who can’t produce large movements (due to a spinal cord injury, stroke or another disabling event), experience tremors, or have fewer than five fingers on their hand.” The new Meta Ray-Ban glasses also boast impressive durability, a lightweight build, a long-lasting battery of up to 18 hours, and an IPX7 water-resistance rating.

Seamless AI Integration

Image: Meta

In an era where AI is essential, the new Meta glasses are seamlessly integrated with the Meta ecosystem. The glasses can interact with Meta AI for various tasks and allow you to check messages from Meta's social media applications like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. They are even capable of video calls (although a minor glitch was observed during the live demo, which could be attributed to an OS bug). The main question now is whether this new device will intensify the competition in the wearable tech space. With rivals like Apple and Google (in collaboration with Samsung) also working on their own smart glasses, it remains to be seen how they will compete.

What are your thoughts on these new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses? Would you consider buying them? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.