Meta is planning to announce new smart glasses, codenamed Hypernova, at its annual Connect conference in September. This is the company’s first consumer-ready pair of glasses with a display, which will be in the right lens. The glasses are being created in partnership with EssilorLuxottica and are expected to cost around $800. They’re expected to be unveiled alongside a wristband that uses hand gestures for controlling the glasses.
The news was discovered by CNBC on Friday, it notes that Meta is setting low expectations for sales due to the glasses being slightly heavier and thicker than previous models. The company’s Reality Labs unit has already been suffering losses since late 2020, with it losing $70 billion since then.
The new wristband that Meta is working on will apparently use sEMG sensor technology from CTRL Labs, which reads electrical signals from hand movements. The wristband is intended to be a key input component and a way to gather data for future versions of full AR glasses. To ensure the products are popular with consumers, it has been looking for developers, especially in generative AI, to make apps for its new smart glasses.
The Hypernova glasses’ display is expected to be limited, offering a 20-degree field of view. It’s primarily for relaying simple information like incoming text messages. The glasses will allow users to take and share photos and videos, make calls, send messages, listen to audio, and interact with an AI assistant via voice, display, or manual interactions.
Some of the features were first detailed in a July letter from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to Meta’s legal team. It redacted the product name but people familiar with the matter confirmed that the features belong to the Hypernova.
In addition to Hypernova and the wristband, Meta is expected to announce a third generation of its voice-only smart glasses with Luxottica. This device will have capacitive touch functionality, allowing users to interact with touch gestures.