Key Points:
- Meta debuts Ray-Ban Display glasses with AI and gesture control.
- Live demo glitches spark doubts about readiness.
- Compared to Apple’s future AR glasses, Meta’s tech feels modest.
Meta has unveiled its newest addition to the smart eyewear market—the Meta’s Ray-Ban Display Glasses. Priced at $799 and scheduled to hit U.S. stores on September 30, the device is designed to bridge the gap between AI-powered assistants and everyday wearables. Featuring a full-color display embedded in one lens, the glasses aim to provide users with live subtitles, translations, messaging capabilities, and seamless integration with Meta AI.
Alongside the glasses, Meta introduced the Neural Band, a wrist-worn device that allows gesture-based control, offering a more natural interaction with the display. The launch represents Meta’s most ambitious attempt yet to blend fashion with function, building on its earlier Ray-Ban collaborations that offered audio and camera features but lacked visual output.
However, unlike augmented reality headsets that offer transparent overlays and spatial computing, Meta’s new glasses remain closer to an enhanced wearable screen. The device signals an evolutionary step rather than a revolutionary one in Meta’s journey toward mainstream smart glasses adoption.
Live Demo Undercut by Technical Failures
While the product’s announcement generated significant buzz, the live demonstration revealed cracks in Meta’s promise of reliability. During a cooking demo, the glasses’ AI assistant failed to follow a simple recipe query, repeatedly referencing ingredients as already mixed instead of guiding the user step by step. The moment drew awkward laughs and highlighted the challenges of AI responsiveness in real-time settings.
Another showcase focused on video calling through the Neural Band. When Meta’s CTO attempted to connect with Mark Zuckerberg live on stage, the glasses repeatedly failed to register the call. Both executives attributed the failure to connectivity issues, but the repeated misfires left an impression of unfinished technology struggling under the spotlight.
These high-profile glitches underscored the hurdles of presenting cutting-edge AI devices in real-time demonstrations. For consumers and industry observers, the failures raised questions about whether the glasses are truly “ready to go,” as Meta claims, or whether they need further refinement before gaining widespread adoption.
Positioning Against Apple’s Anticipated Glasses
The debut inevitably draws comparisons to Apple, which is steadily advancing its own roadmap for wearable AR. Apple’s Vision Pro headset has already set expectations for immersive spatial computing, and speculation around future “Apple Glasses” suggests transparent displays, ecosystem-wide integration, and deeper AR functionality.
Against this backdrop, Meta’s Ray-Ban Display Glasses stands as a more modest entry—an incremental step toward AI-assisted eyewear rather than a breakthrough in augmented reality. While the price point is competitive and the design remains stylish, the technology lacks the futuristic capabilities many anticipate from Apple’s eventual offering.
Still, Meta’s willingness to release iterative products keeps it in the public conversation around wearable innovation. Despite the rocky launch, the Meta’s Ray-Ban Display Glasses could serve as a bridge toward more advanced consumer devices, testing both interest and functionality in a market that remains in flux. The coming years may determine whether Meta can refine its approach fast enough to secure a lasting place before Apple reshapes the field.
