META has launched a dizzying array of new hi-tech glasses – including a posh pair with a built-in screen for seeing apps.
The new specs were unveiled at today’s Meta Connect event by tech boss Mark Zuckerberg, alongside a genius AI that can create any video game that you dream up.
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Meta Connect is the company’s annual showcase for new gadgets and apps.
META RAY-BAN DISPLAY
This year, the headline product is the Meta Ray-Ban Display.
This is the company’s most advanced pair of smart specs to go on sale so far. The Sun’s Sean Keach has already tried them – read his Meta Ray-Ban Display hands-on impressions.
Regular Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses come with a built-in camera and microphone, and an AI assistant to answer questions – even about real-world objects that you’re looking at.
But the new Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses go one step further and feature a built-in screen.
This display is invisible to the outside world, so no one can see what you’re looking at.
But it can show you apps – like WhatsApp text chains, Instagram Reels, or your camera viewfinder – that float in your field of view.
You can even use it to see live captions over the face of someone speaking to you.
It’s a full-colour display but you can still see what’s going on behind the overlays.
You can even use it to follow directions that float in front of your eyes – but only for walking, not for driving.
They come with a Meta Neural Band, which goes on your wrist and detects tiny movements that let you control what you’re seeing.
So tap your fingers together to select, or roll your thumb to scroll.
The glasses start at $799 and are available from September 13 at limited stores in the US, followed by a UK release in early 2026.
They come in two colours, Black and Sand, with colour-matched Meta Neural Bands to go with them.
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META RAY-BAN GEN 2 GLASSES
The regular Meta Ray-Ban glasses have also been upgraded.
There’s now a new Gen 2 version that Meta says serves up twice the battery life of the old model.
And you’ll get 3K Ultra HD video capture too.
They’ll still feature the AI assistant, offer real-time translation, and music playback too.
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But now they’ll last eight hours with “typical use”, according to Meta.
And you can charge them up to 50% in 20 minutes, with a charging case that gets you an extra 48 hours of use.
There’s also an upcoming Conversation Focus mode that amplifies the voice of the person that you’re talking to.
So you can hear them better when you’re somewhere with a lot of ambient noise, like a busy restaurant.
There are some new styles too, given that this is effectively a fashion accessory as well as a gadget.
The new glasses go on sale today and start at $379 – with the Gen 1 version priced at $299.
META OAKLEY VANGUARD GLASSES
Meta has also teamed up with Oakley for some proper sports-friendly smart-glasses.
There’s a new product category called Oakley Meta Vanguard, which are meant for high-intensity activities.
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So think: outdoor cycling, mountain biking, trail running.
They have an “action-ready camera” built in, and a three-point-fit system plus three replaceable nose pads so you get a secure fit.
After all, you don’t want your posh specs falling off a cliff.
They have Oakley PRIZMTM Lens tech to block out sun, wind, and dust – and feature built-in speakers too, plus a five-microphone array that reduces wind noise.
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You’ll get nine hours of battery life from a pair – or six hours with continuous music playback.
And the charging case gets you an extra 36 hours of charge, with 50% refuelling for the glasses in 20 minutes.
You can also pair the glasses with Garmin and Strava to query your performance, and even overlay your exercise metrics on the video you capture.
The glasses start at £499 in the UK and $499 in the US.
META AI TO CREATE YOUR OWN GAMES
Meta also showed off a special tool that makes it extremely easy to create your own video games.
The games live inside Meta’s Horizon metaverse, which is a series of digital worlds that you can share with pals.
And now Meta has developed its AI helper to let you create massive virtual worlds, game textures, audio, skyboxes, and characters all just by typing in some words.
You can even generate custom voices for characters, give them personalities, and they’ll spring to life in seconds.
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The AI lets you create game rules and systems, spawn objects, and change what you’ve magicked up on the fly.
Importantly, you don’t need any experience of coding.
You just chat to the AI in a conversational way to edit your game, and it’ll generate automatically in just a few seconds.
Then you can invite friends to play in a custom video game that would normally have taken thousands of hours to create.
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