Meta Platforms (META) is expected to heavily promote its latest smart glasses at its “Connect” annual conference being held this week.
The social media company is set to unveil its most advanced smart glasses yet on Sept. 17.
The glasses, codenamed “Hypernova,” reportedly feature a small display that can be controlled via hand gestures through a wristband that utilizes neural technology.
The new smart glasses are expected to retail for $800 U.S. and be made in partnership with EssilorLuxottica (EPA:EL), the eye glass maker that helped launch Meta’s AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2023.
The Ray-Ban glasses contain cameras, speakers and microphones, allowing users to command Meta’s artificial intelligence (A.I.) voice assistant to take a photo, shoot video, or play music.
While consumer enthusiasm for Meta’s smart glasses and virtual reality headsets appears high, some analysts have expressed concerns about the company’s spending on such devices.
Reality Labs, Meta’s division in charge of developing consumer hardware products, has lost nearly $70 billion U.S. since late 2020.
With the new Hypernova device, Meta Platforms is selling smart glasses with a display for the first time. However, that display is expected to be small and limited in what it shows to users.
For now, smart glasses appear to remain a niche and expensive product. Although there are reports that both Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOGL) are developing their own smart glasses.
At the annual Connect conference, analysts will also be watching for any signs that Meta Platform’s recent A.I. bets are paying off, notably its $14.3 billion U.S. investment in Scale AI.
META stock has gained 28% this year to trade at $764.70 U.S. per share.
