is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
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Meta’s next big Connect conference is nearly here, and this year, we’re expecting to see a lot of news about glasses. AI-focused hardware is all the rage, and Meta arguably already has the best gadgets around in its Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses. At this year’s show, we’re expecting to see more about glasses, but also some standalone AI updates and even some talk of the metaverse.
Here’s what we’re expecting from Connect, which will feature a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that we’ll be covering live on Wednesday at 8PM ET / 5PM PT.
Smart glasses with a display and a wristband
Meta plans to announce new smart glasses with a small display in the right lens that can be controlled with hand gestures via a wristband, CNBC reports. The display apparently has a limited field of view and is only intended to show small pieces of information. The Verge reported on the glasses, codenamed Hypernova, in 2022.
The wristband will apparently use surface electromyography (sEMG) technology that “reads and interprets the electrical signals from hand movements,” according to CNBC. The tech comes from CTRL-Labs, a startup Meta acquired in 2019, and Meta demoed it last year with its augmented reality Orion glasses. Meta is very optimistic about sEMG technology; in a recent blog post, it said that “sEMG could revolutionize how we interact with our devices” and that sEMG “may just prove to be the perfect input for virtually any device.”
The new glasses are expected to cost “about $800,” CNBC says, and could be thicker and heavier than some of Meta’s other smart glasses offerings. And a now-removed video from Meta caught by UploadVR actually showed a pair of new glasses with a display with the branding “Meta | Ray-Ban” and “Display,” so it seems like Meta is on the cusp of actually launching these.
Smart glasses without a display
Meta’s smart glasses have been a big success — EssilorLuxottica, which produces the Ray-Ban Metas, said that the company has sold 2 million pairs of the glasses — and rumors indicate that Meta could introduce new models at Connect.
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