2 hours ago
1
Meta’s annual Connect conference is happening on September 17th and 18th, and it seems like there’s going to be a lot of focus on smart glasses.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Wednesday evening keynote will discuss “the latest on AI glasses,” the company says. Rumors and a video leak from Meta already indicate that we might see Meta launch glasses that have a display on one lens and that are controlled with a neural wristband, as well as wraparound Oakley smart glasses with a camera on the nose bridge. The company also says that Zuckerberg will be laying out “Meta’s vision for artificial intelligence and the metaverse,” so there should be some non-smart glasses news to look forward to, too.
Zuckerberg’s keynote begins at 8PM ET / 5PM PT, and we’ll be covering the keynote and major announcements from the show live. You’ll be able to catch up with all of our coverage from the event right here.
It’s time for Meta to add a display to its smart glasses
This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent every Friday from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest phones, smartwatches, apps, and other gizmos that swear they’re going to change your life. Optimizer arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 10AM ET. Opt in for Optimizer here.
About a month ago, I was walking in Williamsburg and a stylish Brooklyn hipster stopped me to ask about the Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses I was testing. A few weeks later, I went to dinner with a friend that I hadn’t seen in years. It wasn’t until we were walking to the train that I noticed they were wearing a pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. I went to a concert, turned my head, and saw someone in my section with the Ray-Bans’ recording light on. The next day, a quick search told me footage had been uploaded to TikTok.
Ray-Ban’s website posts a “We’ll be back soon” note ahead of Meta Connect.
Taking a move straight from Apple’s playbook.
How to watch Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote at Meta Connect 2025
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
Meta is about to kick off its annual Connect conference, beginning with a keynote address from CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday night. Zuckerberg plans to discuss “the latest on AI glasses” and will lay out “Meta’s vision for artificial intelligence and the metaverse,” according to the Connect website.
As my colleague Victoria Song writes, Meta’s smart glasses are due for a major upgrade, and based on a leaked video from Meta, it seems like the company will announce exactly such a product during Connect: its first glasses with a screen. That video also showed new wraparound Oakley smart glasses. And Meta’s mention of the metaverse makes me think that Meta’s Horizon OS and VR work will get some airtime, as well.
Meta’s new smart glasses are coming this week
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Meta’s next big Connect conference is nearly here, and this year, we’re expecting to see a lot of news about glasses. AI-focused hardware is all the rage, and Meta arguably already has the best gadgets around in its Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses. At this year’s show, we’re expecting to see more about glasses, but also some standalone AI updates and even some talk of the metaverse.
Here’s what we’re expecting from Connect, which will feature a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that we’ll be covering live on Wednesday at 8PM ET / 5PM PT.
Meta leaks its new smart glasses with a display
Image: UploadVR
An unlisted and now-removed video from Meta showed off a new pair of Ray-Ban branded smart glasses with a display and a wristband to help control them, as reported by UploadVR. The video also features a new pair of wraparound “Sphaera” Oakley smart glasses with a camera on the nose, meaning that Meta itself may have inadvertently leaked two of its biggest announcements from its Connect event this week.
For the glasses with a display, the video includes branding that says “Meta | Ray-Ban” and “Display,” so perhaps Meta will call them the Meta Ray-Ban Display. Based on a brief clip included in UploadVR’s article, the actual display is in the right lens of the glasses, and the clip shows how the glasses will let you do things like ask Meta AI a question, look at a map on the glasses to help you navigate, translate a sign, or use your hand with the wristband to “write” a reply to a chat.
