Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is set to kick off its annual Connect conference on Wednesday at its California headquarters, where the tech giant is expected to showcase its first augmented reality (AR) glasses and reveal updates to its virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) products.
One of the most anticipated announcements is an AI update that will allow users to choose celebrity voices for Meta’s chatbot, including options like Judi Dench and John Cena, according to a report by Reuters. This audio upgrade is part of Meta’s broader push to integrate AI across its platforms.
The unveiling of augmented reality glasses has been long awaited by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who positioned AR technology as central to the company’s shift toward building immersive “metaverse” experiences back in 2021. However, technical hurdles have delayed progress. Last year, the head of Meta’s Reality Labs division, which is focused on metaverse technologies, acknowledged that a consumer-ready AR product was still “a few years away.”
Meta has invested tens of billions of dollars in AI, AR, and other metaverse-related technologies, pushing its capital expenditure forecast for 2024 to a record $37 billion to $40 billion. Despite these massive investments, Meta’s Reality Labs division has been running at a significant loss, reporting an $8.3 billion deficit in the first half of 2023, and a $16 billion loss last year.
According to sources, Meta’s first-generation AR glasses will be distributed internally and to a select group of developers this year, with production costs reaching tens of thousands of dollars per unit. The company aims to release its first commercial AR glasses by 2027, by which time technological advancements are expected to reduce production costs.
Although Meta has not officially commented on these plans, Zuckerberg hinted at their progress during a live podcast taping in San Francisco, stating that the company is “pretty close” to showing off the first AR prototype.
In the meantime, Meta has found unexpected success with its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, equipped with cameras and AI technology. At last year’s Connect conference, Meta added an AI-powered digital assistant to the glasses, transforming them into the most popular AI wearable on the market. While sales figures have not been disclosed, market research firm IDC estimates that over 700,000 pairs have shipped since the update.
Looking ahead, Meta plans to continue its partnership with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica and is working on a next-generation version of the smart glasses, featuring a viewfinder that can display text and images through the lenses.
