On September 30, 2025, Meta Platforms Inc. was front and centre in its annual Meta Connect conference in San Francisco, where the company announced a collection of advances in the field of augmented reality that will bring wearable technology into ubiquitous use. The standout: the second generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which now have generative AI features that enable users to see the world as a dialogue query.
Complemented by new Oakley-based versions and prototype Meta Display glasses, these releases represent a major change in disillusioning wearables to essential AI assistants. With the AR explosion on the verge of 1.5 billion users by 2030, these gadgets put Meta on the frontline of spatial computing, as a fashionable and functional frontier device in an attempt to outcompete Apple and Google.
The livestream seen by millions of people highlights the aggressive shift of Meta towards hardware, in which its Llama AI models are built directly into glasses. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, wearing the new Ray-Ban prototypes, joked, “These are not glasses, but your personal AI companion that whispers information about the world around you in your ear.”
Echoing the ambitions of more significant integration into the metaverse vision of Meta, the announcements of today may hasten the process of AR eyewear becoming normalised, changing the way we communicate with the overlays of the digital world in the real world.
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2: Speaking Seeing AI
Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have changed significantly since they were launched in 2023. Gen 2 is equipped with a 12MP ultra-wide camera capable of real-time object recognition, which is powered by a custom edge AI chip that processes the query in-camera to deliver lightning-fast performance.
Users are now able to say, What am I looking at? through voice (say gesture) and get immediate audio responses- locate a landmark, decode foreign gestures or even get recipe suggestions based on what’s in the fridge. The glasses have open-ear speakers with spatial audio that adapts to the surrounding noise level so that they can be used discreetly without the use of hands.
The glasses, which are enhanced with multimodal AI, create images or text according to the visual input. Take a picture of a wardrobe, and it will recommend ways to dress it up; scan a menu, and it will recommend food depending on eating preferences. The battery has 8 hours of constant use, and it has a smooth charging case, which doubles up as a wireless hotspot.
At the same price as previous models, these glasses have the classic Ray-Ban look, but they come in 10 new frame styles, an aviator and a wayfarer. Demos have been shown that are seamlessly integrated with WhatsApp and Instagram, and have live-streamed POV videos with AI-cut highlights.
To accompany the line, the Oakley Vanguard Meta glasses are aimed at sportspeople with tough titanium frames, HUD displays to show workout data, and haptic feedback to provide clues about their direction. They have an IP68 waterproof rating and ultraviolet reactive lenses that adjust to sunlight at a price of $349, which outdoor lovers would love to have AI coaching in a non-bulky package.
Meta Display Glasses: A Preview of the AR Future
Steal the show was the prototype Meta Display glasses, a lightweight (less than 50g) AR headset, which has micro-LED projectors that project high-res holograms onto prescription-ready lenses.
They are also subtler, unlike bulky competitors such as the Apple Vision Pro, in that they add transparent screens over digital features- navigation indicators, notifications, virtual whiteboards- without blocking the real world. The AI (powered by Llama 3.1) allows collaborative AR experiences, such as collaborating on documents with colleagues anywhere or playing a game with friends projected on common tables.
Zuckerberg has shown off Meta Presence, which allows people to call in life-size avatars so that they can have a virtual meeting, and eye tracking makes the avatars look like natural eye-gaze. The glasses have gesture controls enhanced by neural interfaces to recognise subtle hand waves to guide through the menu.
Although the prototype is not consumer-ready yet, scheduled to launch in 2027, it gives a glimpse of the roadmap that Meta is planning to follow: by 2028, it will have full-colour retinal projection, which can possibly ruin the smartphone as the primary display.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Protection
The fundamental motivation of Meta Connect was the pursuit of the so-called ambient AI, or devices foreseeing their requirements in advance. The glasses are connected to the neural wristband called Orion used by the neural system of Meta to react to thoughts, and enable users to think such commands as: call mom or find my keys.
On the software side, an improved Meta AI assistant, now featuring 50 billion parameters, can perform advanced tasks, such as booking appointments based on the scan of a calendar, or creating personalised travel plans based on photo collections.
One of the burning points is privacy. Meta also added an Insight Controls feature, allowing users to toggle on and off data sharing on a session-by-session basis, with all processing being by default on-device to reduce cloud uploads.
The transparency was commended by an independent audit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, but sceptics have doubts about its enforcement in the face of past scandals. Latency is minimised to 20ms with edge computing, and audio and visual data are secured with end-to-end encryption, making responses seem natural.
Wearables Future Benchmarking
Measures of performance are blinding: The AI chip in the Ray-Ban Gen 2 provides 15 TOPS, matching the smartphone neural engines, and is 95 per cent accurate on real-world object recognition, according to internal testing.
The glasses made by Meta have twice the field of view (50 degrees) and three times the battery life compared to Snap spectacles. Compared to the prototypes of the Project Astra created by Google, Meta beats Google in multimodal integration, merging the vision with audio and haptics.
Analysts in the industry predict 500,000 units sold in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, with the bundling of the headsets with Meta Quest during the holidays. Alliances with EssilorLuxottica. Distribution is increased to 100,000 optical stores around the globe, whereas developer resources are welcomed, such as AR shopping using Shopify or fitness overlays powered by Peloton.
The Race in AR is Getting Hot
The actions of Meta increase competition. The so-called AR glasses, scheduled for 2026 by Apple, will be more focused on enterprise productivity, but the use of consumers as favoured by Meta (with a base of 3 billion monthly social users) offers it a distribution moat.
Snap lags are an AI depth lag, whereas Microsoft HoloLens is a niche. The regulatory roadblocks loom: EU data privacy regulations may require opt-out defaults, and U.S. antitrust investigations are currently examining the connection between the ad ecosystem at Meta.
Sustainability glistens through: Frames are made of recycled materials 80 per cent, and there is a take-back program compensating e-waste. According to critics, though, energy requirements, with the AI chip in each pair at 10% higher consumption than non-smart options, are crying out to be manicured greener.
Availability, Pricing and Future
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 and Oakley Vanguard are stocked on October 15th, on meta.com, in Ray-Ban stores and on select retailers. Gen 2 is available with either a starting price of $299 (standard lenses) or $399 (transitioning), plus prescription add-ons of $50 and above. Making Zuckerberg sign books and auctioning one off is a charity event with limited editions that combines both hype and philanthropy.
When Meta Connect is to be closed, the hype continues: It is not an accessory, it is a window into an augmented reality where AI enhances human senses. As prototypes of the holographic future take a bite, Meta is not merely improving on it–it is reinventing vision itself. San Francisco was not having a conference on the 30th of September, 2025; it was experiencing the beginning of the eyes that think.