Meta expands smart-glasses lineup while addressing privacy concerns
publishers 15articles 21first reported 23 Sep, 23:30 UTCdeveloping since 24 Sep · 6 editions
Meta unveiled new wearable devices at its Connect 2026 event, including camera-free Ray-Ban Audio glasses, an updated camera-equipped model and lightweight VR glasses, as the company faces continued criticism over privacy.
The Ray-Ban Audio glasses, priced from $349 and scheduled to ship October 13, support music, calls and Meta’s Muse AI assistant but omit cameras. TechSpot reported that the glasses offer up to 12 hours of battery life and activate Muse when the wearer says “Hey Meta” or presses a button. Meta also released Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 glasses starting at $449, featuring a 12-megapixel camera, 3K video and a six-microphone array.
Meta said its VR glasses will arrive next spring for $1,299. The 100-gram device uses 5K micro-OLED displays and can present virtual screens for productivity and streaming applications. The company also announced photorealistic avatars that use speech to estimate facial expressions during calls.
Separately, Meta began rolling out an option allowing smart-glasses owners to prevent visual data from AI interactions from being stored for product improvement and AI training. Engadget reported that Meta’s help documentation says such data may otherwise undergo automated or human review. Users must disable storage separately for each pair of connected glasses, and opting out may make some functions, including visual reminders, unavailable.
Privacy concerns have also prompted countersurveillance efforts. Fast Company reported that developer Paweł Szydłowski’s ZuckOff app scans nearby Bluetooth signals and flags devices it identifies as smart glasses, though the app has limitations.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 2 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one (7 if wire copies count as one too); this version written 24 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- Given to the writer
- 8, 2 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8 (7 if wire copies count as one)
- This version written
- 24 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
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