GoKawiil
Tech News
EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear company, has released a second generation of Nuance Audio, its line of glasses built-in hearing support for adults with mild hearing loss. The update adds new frame designs and colorways, continuing the company's effort to market hearing assistance as a style-forward eyewear product rather than a visible medical device.
At Meta Connect 2026, Meta introduced the Ray-Ban Meta Audio, its first camera-free smart glasses, priced from $349 and shipping October 13. The company also revealed the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3), a slimmer version of its camera-equipped glasses with up to nine hours of battery life and a customizable action button, alongside a new Muse Charm accessory built for Meta's Muse AI assistant and a lightweight VR headset called Meta VR Glasses.
Meta unveiled its first camera-free AI glasses, called Ray-Ban Meta Audio, at its Connect 2026 conference. Made with partner EssilorLuxottica, the audio-only glasses support music, calls, translation and Meta's Muse assistant, weigh 43 grams, and offer up to 12 hours of battery life (48 with the charging case) starting at $349 across 23 color and lens combinations.
EssilorLuxottica has released the Nuance Audio Plus, an upgraded version of its FDA-cleared over-the-counter hearing aid glasses that look like ordinary eyewear. The new model adds sharper voice clarity in noisy settings, extra physical controls on the frame, and up to 10 hours of battery life, and comes in three frame styles and five colors starting at $829. The original Nuance Audio glasses, priced from $699, will continue to be sold alongside the new Plus version.
Counterpoint Research reports that global shipments of display-less AI glasses rose 263% year over year in the first half of 2026, with Meta's Ray-Ban partnership capturing 94% of the segment. Xiaomi and Alibaba each held just 1% market share, while North America and Western Europe together accounted for nearly 80% of total shipments.
Legato, a hearing-tech startup founded in late 2024 by former Bose and EssilorLuxottica executives Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine, has exited stealth mode with $12 million in funding. The company unveiled Legato Frames, eyewear that embeds hearing-assistance technology into the temple arms of glasses, with a planned launch this fall. Legato is targeting people with mild to moderate hearing loss, the largest untreated segment of hearing-impaired adults.
Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, built with EssilorLuxottica, are facing criticism after users were found photographing and filming strangers without consent, then posting the footage online. Critics have dubbed the devices 'pervert glasses' amid mounting concerns about privacy and ethical misuse.