Meta used its Connect 2025 conference to showcase its latest push into wearable technology, unveiling a new generation of smart glasses designed to merge fashion, functionality, and artificial intelligence into a single device. The centerpiece of the announcement was the Ray-Ban Meta Display, the company’s first pair of consumer smart glasses with a built-in lens display and gesture-based controls. With this launch, Meta has moved closer to making augmented reality features an everyday reality, while also igniting a fresh wave of debate about privacy, usability, and long-term health impacts of wearable displays.
The Ray-Ban Meta Display represents a step change from previous versions of the company’s smart eyewear. Instead of functioning primarily as voice-enabled devices with cameras, these glasses integrate a waveguide display within the right lens, enabling wearers to see information projected directly into their line of sight. Directions, messages, live translations, and captions can appear without the need to pull out a smartphone. A new companion accessory, the Meta Neural Band, extends functionality by detecting hand and finger gestures, which serve as the primary interface for navigation. This means that users can scroll through maps, respond to notifications, or access apps simply by moving their hands, without touching the glasses.
Alongside the display-equipped model, Meta also announced two other devices that broaden its smart glasses portfolio. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, an upgraded successor to last year’s model, offers longer battery life and improved camera quality while maintaining the classic eyewear look that Meta developed in partnership with Ray-Ban. Meanwhile, the Oakley Meta Vanguard, developed in collaboration with the sportswear brand, caters specifically to athletes and outdoor enthusiasts. With a rugged build, integrated Strava support, and sport-oriented camera placement, the Vanguard model is intended for active use in challenging environments.
The Ray-Ban Meta Display, priced at $799 in the United States, is scheduled for release at the end of September 2025. Meta has confirmed that global availability will follow in early 2026. Battery life is estimated at six hours of mixed use, supplemented by a collapsible charging case that extends usability throughout the day. While Meta’s claims sound promising, consumer experiences will determine whether the glasses live up to their specifications, particularly given the intensive demands of displays and gesture tracking.
For Meta, the launch comes at a critical moment. The company has long positioned itself as a leader in augmented reality and the broader “metaverse” vision, but adoption of wearable AR devices has proven elusive. Previous efforts in the sector by companies such as Google and Snap struggled to gain mainstream traction, hindered by limited features and concerns about privacy. By introducing a pair of glasses that resemble everyday eyewear while layering in genuinely useful features, Meta is betting that it can overcome consumer hesitation and establish a foothold in the wearable AR market.
The potential applications are wide-ranging. For business users, the glasses could streamline workflow by projecting notifications, schedules, and communications directly into view without needing a laptop or phone. Travelers may find value in instant translation and real-time navigation assistance. People with accessibility challenges could benefit from features like captioning for the hearing impaired or gesture-based control for those unable to use touch screens easily. In theory, the glasses could significantly reduce the friction of accessing digital information, pushing computing toward a more natural and seamless experience.
At the same time, significant questions remain. Privacy advocates have already raised concerns about the presence of always-on sensors, microphones, and cameras that accompany wearable devices like these. The potential for discreet recording in public spaces continues to be controversial, as does the issue of where and how gesture and voice data are processed. If much of this information is stored or analyzed in the cloud, skeptics argue, it creates risks of surveillance and data misuse. On the other hand, if more of the AI processing takes place locally on the device, questions arise about battery life, efficiency, and hardware limits.
Health and safety concerns are also being closely watched. Experts in ergonomics and vision science caution that projecting visuals onto a lens for prolonged periods could pose risks of eye strain or fatigue, particularly if display brightness is not carefully managed in outdoor conditions. Unlike smartphones or laptops, which users can put away, smart glasses may encourage continuous exposure. As with any new technology, long-term studies will be necessary to fully understand the implications for vision and cognitive focus.
Despite these concerns, Meta’s unveiling underscores the steady momentum behind wearable AR technology. The company has presented these glasses as part of a larger roadmap toward more immersive and integrated augmented reality, where digital information can be layered naturally into physical environments. While the Ray-Ban Meta Display does not yet offer the kind of three-dimensional overlays imagined in science fiction or advanced enterprise AR systems, it signals a pragmatic step forward. By embedding useful features into stylish, recognizable eyewear, Meta is attempting to normalize a technology that has historically struggled to move beyond niche adoption.
For now, much will depend on how the devices perform outside of controlled demonstrations. Questions about comfort, display clarity, battery endurance, and app ecosystem support remain unanswered. Developers will play a pivotal role in shaping whether these glasses become essential tools or fade into novelty, as the success of the platform will hinge on the availability of applications that extend beyond messaging and maps. Similarly, regulators will be watching closely to ensure that new wearable technologies comply with privacy protections and consumer safety standards.
Meta’s Connect 2025 event may be remembered as a milestone in the gradual blending of fashion and technology into devices that are both practical and aspirational. Whether the Ray-Ban Meta Display and its companions become mainstream consumer products will depend not only on Meta’s ability to deliver on its promises, but also on society’s willingness to accept and adapt to yet another step toward ubiquitous, wearable computing.
