Meta Connect 2025 live updates: Ray-Ban Display, Oakley Vanguard smart glasses, more

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:44 p.m. ET
Meta will roll out Meta TV, a central hub that combines multiple streaming services, from Netflix to Disney+, into a single space. It will support Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, ensuring a high-quality visual and auditory experience.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:43 p.m. ET
Powering Horizon Studio is Meta Horizon Engine, a new proprietary graphical engine that is optimized for generative creation. The engine will also enable a more immersive and interactive metaverse.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:41 p.m. ET
Meta has announced Meta Horizon Studio, a generative AI playground that’ll allow users to create miniature virtual worlds via verbal prompts. Examples include a UFC octagon ring, a virtual home, and an underwater seascape.

By Sabrina Ortiz, Senior Editor /Sept. 17 at 8:40 p.m. ET

And that’s it for the glasses. Now, we are moving on to AI in the virtual world. This is kicking off Meta Horizon Studio. This is meant to let creators generate whole worlds from simple prompts.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:37 p.m. ET
The Meta Ray-Ban Display will launch on Sept. 30 for $799, and in-store locations will provide live demos. They will be available in two colors: Black and Sand (dark brown). The devices will also have transition lenses, turning them into smart sunglasses.

By Sabrina Ortiz, Senior Editor /Sept. 17 at 8:35 p.m. ET

It wouldn’t be an AI-focused event if  “agentic AI” weren’t mentioned. In this example, Meta AI shows suggestions in-lens using the context of your conversations. These actions include adding items to your calendar or even just search results.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:34 p.m. ET
Live AI on the Meta Ray-Ban Display will have limited usage at launch. But over the next several months, Live AI can expand its set of features, and among these, it will be able to deliver a live feed of contextually important information.

By Sabrina Ortiz, Senior Editor /Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m. ET

In a live demo of the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, Zuckerberg went beyond messaging. He tried showing off being able to answer video calls using the Neural Band. However, there were technical difficulties that caused this demo to fail. That’s show biz! A more successful attempt was raising the volume on Spotify by simply making the notion of turning up a volume nob. 

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:28 p.m. ET
The Meta Neural Band is, as the name suggests, a wristband that lets users control the digital display using simple hand gestures. In a live demo, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg used the Neural Band to write and send texts. He mimicked the motion of writing with a pen to type out a text.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:27 p.m. ET
Meta also announced its third set of smart glasses at Connect 2025, the Meta Ray-Ban Display, and its accompanying accessory, the Meta Neural Band. The wearables project a digital display over the right eye that reportedly runs at a high resolution and 5,000 nits of brightness. 

By Sabrina Ortiz, Senior Editor /Sept. 17 at 8:24 p.m. ET

The Meta Oakley Vanguard have an integration with Strava, which allows you to hear about your stats as you run. Given the intended audience of athletes and runners, this seems like a feature people will find useful.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:22 p.m. ET

In collaboration with sunglasses brand Oakley, Meta will soon release a new sports-focused pair of smart glasses called the Meta Oakley Vanguard. This wearable houses a 12MP camera in the center of its frame for recording 3K video, plus support for Meta’s AI assistant and a water resistance rating of IP67. Prices start at $499 and ship on Oct. 21. 

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 17 at 8:19 p.m. ET
Meta has announced its second-generation Ray-Ban smartglasses. This model has the same lightweight design as before, but it now comes with a longer battery life (up to 6 hours of constant streaming), support for 3K video recording, and new color options like transparent blue. Prices start at $379.

By Sabrina Ortiz, Senior Editor /Sept. 17 at 8:15 p.m. ET

If you, like me, already dropped a whole lot of money on the first generation of Meta Ray-Bans, there’s good news for you. A new Audio Boost feature is coming to older models via a software update. What it does is amplify conversations you are having in real life to also help you as you navigate the real world.

By Sabrina Ortiz, Senior Editor /Sept. 17 at 8:12 p.m. ET

I have worn the Meta Ray-Bans for almost a year and my biggest complaint was not being able to make it through the day. Zuckerberg just announced the next generation will have double the battery, which will finally make it last a whole day of use. Huge win!

By Kerry Wan, Managing Editor / Sept. 17 at 4:37 p.m. ET

There’s a lot happening within the confines of Meta HQ today, much of which we can’t talk about just yet, but I can share this massive skateboard ramp.

It’s safe to say that Meta is continuing to target athletes and sports fans with its smart glasses, pitching the wearables as a hands-free alternative to more traditioanl action cameras.

By Kerry Wan, Managing Editor / Sept. 17 at 3:46 p.m. ET

Ahead of Meta Connect, CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted on Threads that today’s announcements will include various finger emojis, from writing with a stylus to making finger hearts.

In other words, the neural wristband that’s been teased for almost a year may finally come to market. It would allow users to operate their smart glasses and headsets with pinches, swipes, and taps. The question is how fluid and reliable at tracking the accessory is.

Here’s to hoping for a live demonstration during this afternoon’s keynote.

By Kerry Wan, Managing Editor / Sept. 17 at 2:50 p.m. ET

ZDNET’s Jason Hiner and I are officially on the ground for Meta Connect. Lots of excitement in the air, Meta signage, and people wearing Ray-Bans. Stay tuned for more.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 16 at 8:10 p.m. ET

Meta Connect 2025 won’t be completely devoted to Hypernova, as a recent leak has revealed that there will be at least one other product. Earlier this week, Meta accidentally uploaded a teaser trailer for a new pair of smart glasses that could be called the Meta Ray Ban Display.

As the name suggests, these wearables will “feature a monocular HUD that projects navigation pathways [via a map app], translations, messages, and exchange with the Meta AI assistant.” Text boxes, maps, and the like seemingly stay static. They won’t latch onto objects in front of you like an AR (augmented reality) headset would.

Also: Samsung ‘Galaxy Glasses’ powered by Android XR are reportedly on track to be unveiled this month

Compared to current Meta Ray Ban models, the Ray Ban Display is significantly bulkier, especially around the corners. The extra size is probably a consequence of all the additional tech needed to support digital displays. 

I should mention that Meta could also announce new smart glasses with its other partner, Oakley. Another leak spilled the beans on the “rumoured Oakley Meta Sphaera,” which will have a camera lens in the center for capturing footage. 

By Jason Howell, Contributor / Sept. 16 at 8:05 p.m. ET

For the event, it appears the tech giant is going big as Meta will reportedly unveil a new pair of high-end smart glasses, codenamed Hypernova, capable of displaying a graphical interface and tracking hand gestures, among other things. Much of the information surrounding Hypernova comes from unnamed sources who spoke to industry insider Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.

According to this report, the smart glasses could cost around $800 (and as much as $1,400.) For comparison, the Oakley HSTN are currently Meta’s most expensive wearables, and they only cost $479. The massive price difference is due to a “monocular panel” located in the bottom right-hand corner of the right lens. Because of the panel’s location, on-screen information will only be displayed over your right eye, and you’ll have to look down to see a home screen.

Also: 2 Meta Ray-Bans leaks that have me truly excited for Connect (including a new Oakley model)

This home screen will consist of preinstalled apps, which include a camera, image gallery, and map. Additionally, Hypernova could possibly connect to smartphones to display texts and notifications on the digital screen. A proper name has yet to be revealed or leaked; however, rumors claim that the $800 smart glasses may be called Meta Celeste.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 16 at 7:50 p.m. ET

Gurman’s report mentions that Meta will “begin offering a so-called neural wristband [codenamed Ceres] for the first time.” This will be an accompanying accessory to Hypernova that converts electrical signals from wrist muscles into gesture controls. For example, rotating your hands will let you scroll through apps, and a finger pinch will allow users to select specific items.

Also: Meta wears Prada? Why its next-gen AR glasses might out-style the Ray-Bans

Not much is known about Ceres; however, early renders and images of the accessory have leaked. These renders show Ceres could be a bracelet of sorts made primarily out of gray, elastic textile cloth, with the inner side holding a series of “high-performance EMG sensors.” 

These sensors capture the electrical signals mentioned earlier, which are then sent to an internal processor to “produce input events” on the smart glasses. It even has a haptic engine delivering tactile feedback to the user.

By Cesar Cadenas, Writer / Sept. 16 at 7:31 p.m. ET

Meta may unveil the new Asus ROG Tarius, a VR headset that will be the first third-party device to run on Horizon OS, on Wednesday. Meta opened its operating system to third-party companies in April 2024. It’s taken a little while, but the fruits of these collaborations are bearing fruit.

Considering that it’ll be under the Asus ROG umbrella, Tarius is likely to be a gaming-centric device. Very little is known about the headset. Much of the information that we currently have comes from a single leak that surfaced in January of this year. 

Also: I tried smart glasses with a built-in display, and they beat my Meta Ray-Bans in key ways

It claims Tarius will support both eye and face tracking. The screen inside the visor will either be micro-OLED or QD-LED with local dimming. Assuming this is all true, the QD-LED screens could be used to achieve high amounts of contrast.

Sadly, that’s pretty much all we know. No word on what it’ll look like or what kinds of games it’ll support. We don’t even know what chipset it’ll run. Could it eschew more towards the Meta Quest 3 and deliver a top-notch performance, or will it be like the Quest 3S and be less powerful in favor of having a lower price tag? It’s hard to say at the moment.