Meta raises the bar for Apple’s AI glasses ambitions

Today, Meta shared (via The Verge) a few new details about Aria Gen 2, its next-generation experimental smart glasses. While they’re still not meant for consumers, the hardware show just how fast Meta is moving and how far ahead it is thinking when it comes to the future of wearables, AI, and spatial computing. It also signals how quickly Apple will have to work if it really intends to do more than simply try to catch up. Again. Aria Gen 2 Designed as a research platform for augmented reality, AI, and robotics, Aria Gen 2 packs a full eye-tracking system that monitors “gaze per eye, vergence point, blink detection, pupil center estimation, pupil diameter, corneal center, etc.” It also features multiple computer vision cameras that enable 3D hand and object tracking, which Meta says is precise enough to train robotic hands. Interestingly, Apple has just published a study on this subject. Inside the nosepad, there’s a PPG heart rate sensor (like the Apple Watch) and a contact microp ... Read full article.