Meta has unveiled the ‘Ray-Ban Display’ smart glasses, its newest offering in its wearables lineup, coming with a built-in display and gesture-based controls. The upgrade is powered with AI, and marks Meta’s yet another attempt to crack the consumer hardware space. These new glasses start at $799.
The ‘Ray-Ban Display’ sits between two earlier projects: the audio-only Ray-Ban Meta glasses released last year, and Orion, the experimental augmented reality prototype shown at Metaâs Connect event in 2023. Orion demonstrated the ability to overlay 3D visuals in real-world environments using a separate wireless computing puck, but the hardware was costly to build and remains years away from commercial release. Unlike premium, bulkier headsets such as Apple Vision Pro, these glasses maintain everyday wearability while enabling live video, live captioning, photo previews, and even video calling directly in the userâs line of sight, all without overt gestures or visible screens that could compromise privacy or style.
“Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are designed to help you look up and stay present. With a quick glance at the in-lens display, you can check messages, preview photos, see translations, get help from Meta AI, and more â all without needing to pull out your phone. Itâs technology that keeps you tuned in to the world around you, not distracted from it. This breakthrough category of AI glasses comes with a full-color, high-resolution display thatâs there when you want it â and gone when you donât. The display is placed off to the side, so it doesnât obstruct your view. And it isnât on all the time â itâs designed for short interactions that youâre always in control of. This isnât about strapping a phone to your face. Itâs about helping you quickly accomplish some of your everyday tasks without breaking your flow,” the company announced in an official statement.
By contrast, the Ray-Ban Display glasses offer a more incremental step. They feature a high-resolution display that can show short videos, text messages, and notifications, without blocking a userâs vision, and a step-by-step how-to. The information disappears when not in use, making the device less intrusive than early AR headsets. Control comes via the Meta Neural Band, an electromyography (EMG) wristband that translates subtle hand gestures into commands. This allows wearers to interact with the glasses without pulling out a phone or tapping on the frames to answer video calls, a feature Meta hopes will set them apart from rival products. Features like real-time translation, captions, and music playback are available as well.
Metaâs investment in wearables has been uneven. The company entered the space in 2021 with its first Ray-Ban smart glasses, designed mainly for hands-free photography and voice assistance. While they generated curiosity, they did not break through to mass adoption. Since then, Meta has pursued a dual track: developing consumer-friendly iterations like the audio-only glasses for music and calls, while pouring research into ambitious AR projects such as Orion. The strategy reflects a recognition that full AR glasses remain technically and economically challenging, and that more modest wearables can serve as stepping stones toward Metaâs longer-term vision of the âmetaverse.â Partnerships have been key to this approach. Working with Ray-Banâs parent company EssilorLuxottica has given Meta access to iconic eyewear styles, helping reduce the âtech gadgetâ stigma that plagued earlier smart glasses like Google Glass.
The Ray-Ban Display glasses will be available in the US starting September 30, but their reception is uncertain. Consumer interest in wearables is rising, yet the market is fragmented. Appleâs Vision Pro, though positioned as a premium mixed-reality headset, has fueled public curiosity about immersive computing. Meanwhile, companies like Snap have struggled to turn their glasses experiments into viable businesses. Metaâs challenge is twofold: proving that people want lightweight glasses that blend utility with fashion, and convincing developers to build applications for a still-nascent platform. Without a robust ecosystem, the device risks being seen as a novelty rather than an essential tool.
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