AI: The Game-Changer for Meta's Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

A new era of smart glasses is unfolding, and Meta is taking the lead. Alongside its groundbreaking prototype, Orion—envisioned as the world’s first full-featured holographic glasses—Meta has also rolled out a major update to its Ray-Ban smart glasses during its recent Connect event.

So, what’s the biggest new feature in Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses? If you guessed AI, you’ve nailed it.

While it’s hardly surprising that Meta, like many tech giants, is integrating AI into its devices, this move is more than just predictable—it’s pivotal. AI may not be essential for every product, but for smart glasses, it has the potential to be revolutionary.

Making AI Stylish and Functional

AI is quickly becoming omnipresent, from search engines and editing software to your email inbox. But while some of these applications may fade, others will become indispensable. After briefly testing Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, I’m convinced that AI in smart glasses is here to stay.

Smart glasses face several challenges, with miniaturization being one of the most obvious. But creating a seamless input method will be just as critical. For smart glasses to succeed the way smartphones have, they’ll need to be intuitive and easy to use. The problem? Unlike smartphones, smart glasses don’t have touchscreens.

Future versions might employ hand or eye-tracking tech like Apple’s Vision Pro, but that technology is still far from viable for sleek, everyday glasses. For now, voice assistants are the answer, and Meta has already jumped on board by integrating its own AI into the latest Ray-Ban update.

I had the chance to test Meta AI, and although it's still evolving, its potential is clear. The addition of large language models (LLMs) significantly enhances voice assistants, making them smarter and more responsive to natural language prompts. LLMs can handle more complex, multi-step tasks with ease.

For example, while wearing Ray-Ban smart glasses, I looked at a French recipe and said, “Hey Meta, translate this recipe for me.” Although the glasses struggled to hear my command in a noisy environment, the AI eventually translated the text. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a promising start.

With an AI-powered voice assistant, smart glasses could sidestep the need for a complicated user interface—at least for now. Want to play music, snap a photo, or set an alarm? Just speak. Meta AI aims to go beyond the basic tasks we expect from today’s voice assistants.

The AI can even identify objects in your field of vision and provide information about them. Imagine looking at a piece of art and instantly learning about its creator or admiring someone’s shoes and finding out their brand and model.

While this combination of AI, computer vision, and real-time information feels futuristic, it’s also practical. The more refined this technology becomes, the more natural and useful it will feel.

The Road Ahead

There’s still a long journey ahead before we reach the ambitious future of Meta’s Orion glasses, but Meta AI is laying the groundwork. Just as Meta AI is simplifying the interface on headsets like the Quest, it’s poised to do the same for early-stage smart glasses like the Meta Ray-Bans.

Though I’m still cautious about the broad capabilities of LLMs, they are undeniably good at understanding human speech. Voice assistants have taken years to reach their current state, but LLMs might finally bring them to maturity.

Both Amazon and Apple have announced improvements to their Alexa and Siri assistants, and Meta’s AI is already harnessing some of this LLM firepower. While AI may not single-handedly spark a smart glasses revolution, it could be the key to making them a worthwhile investment.

In short, the future of smart glasses might just hinge on AI.