US Customers: Early Access Offer for Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses Now Open
Meta is initiating an early access program, allowing a select group of users to experience its latest Ray-Ban smart glasses embedded with innovative AI capabilities. The aim behind this initiative is to gather valuable feedback from participants before a broader release. As part of the update, Meta is enhancing the functionalities of these smart glasses powered by the Meta AI assistant, introducing more intelligent and assistive responses.
Recently, Meta unveiled an array of new AI features across its platforms. In a recent update shared on Tuesday, the company introduced several fresh features specifically for the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. Early access participants will get hands-on experience with multimodal AI-powered functionalities, enabling the smart glasses to comprehend visual information and respond to related inquiries.
According to Meta, the AI assistant integrated into the glasses enables users to capture what they see, either through voice commands or the dedicated capture button. Moreover, it allows users to generate creative captions for the captured images. Wearers can also utilize the glasses to acquire information about objects they encounter or translate foreign language signs into English. However, Meta cautioned users that while utilizing its multimodal AI features, errors might occur initially, but continuous refinement through user feedback is expected to enhance its accuracy over time.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated the look and ask feature on the AI smart glasses in an Instagram post. In the video, taken from the first-person perspective from the glasses, Zuckerberg picks out a striped, dark shirt and asks Meta AI to suggest pants to go with it.
Additionally, Meta says it is rolling out Bing-powered real time information capabilities on Meta AI-powered smart glasses. “You can ask Meta AI about sports scores or information on local landmarks, restaurants, stocks and more,” the company said in its update.
The look and ask with Meta AI feature on the glasses takes a picture when prompted to “look” and delivers an audio-based response to the related query. Do note that all pictures taken and processed by AI are stored and used to train Meta AI and other Meta products, which would likely spark a privacy concern. Meta says that the information collected, used and retained will comply with Meta’s Privacy Policy.
The early access programme is now live for Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses owners in the US and interested users can enroll for the same on the Meta View app on iOS and Android. To sign up, tap the settings button in the bottom right of the Meta View app, swipe down and tap Early Access. You’d also have to make sure that the smart glasses and the Meta View app have received the latest update.
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses made their debut in September, marking their launch alongside the Meta Quest 3 and several other Meta products. Fueled by the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 Platform SoC, these glasses feature a 12-megapixel sensor, an LED light, and offer 32GB of built-in storage.
In terms of pricing, the standard Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are priced at $299 (approximately Rs. 24,999). Meanwhile, variants equipped with Polarized lenses are available for $329 (around Rs. 27,400), and those featuring transition lenses are priced at $379 (approximately Rs. 31,500). These glasses are currently accessible for purchase in 15 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, and various European markets. However, Meta has not yet disclosed a launch date for the Indian market.