Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said on Thursday that smart glasses are the future of computing devices.
“We talk to them, we will see with them, we will use gestures the same way we interact with each other to interact with our computers,” Cox told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin. “The interfaces will get more natural, and so we certainly believe that the next really important wearable technology is going to be a pair of glasses.”
The $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which were revealed on Wednesday, have a small in-lens display that is controlled with hand movements using a neural wristband.
Users will be able to record videos, as well as send messages via voice or physically using handwriting gestures on their knee, Cox said.
“We’ve started with just the basics, which is messaging, which we know is the thing people want to do in a more fluid way,” Cox said.
Unlike Meta’s previous audio-only Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, the Displays allow people to see messages and watch videos.
During a demo, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unsuccessfully attempted to answer a video call from Meta tech chief Andrew Bosworth, as the button to accept the call failed to appear on the display.
Meta saw promising results with its second-generation Meta Ray-Ban glasses collaboration with EssilorLuxottica released in 2023. CEO Francesco Milleri said in February that two million units had been sold since its debut.
EssilorLuxottica revealed in its second-quarter earnings report that revenue from Ray-Ban Meta glasses more than tripled during the first half compared to the year before.
The company said the success of the smart glasses and the Oakley Meta Performance AI glasses, which launched in June, helped it hit overall sales during Q2 of 7.2 billion euro, or $8.5 billion.
While it’s still unclear whether Meta’s bet on smart glasses will pay off, the company is facing growing competition.
Google announced a $150 million partnership with Warby Parker to develop AI glasses in May, while Snap revealed in June plans to release its sixth generation of augmented reality glasses in 2026. Apple is also reportedly looking to release its own smart glasses by the end of next year.
