Meta Unveils Ray-Ban Display and New Smart Glasses Lineup

Meta launches Ray-Ban Display and expands smart-glass lineup

At its Connect keynote, Meta introduced a trio of updated smart glasses led by the $799.99 Meta Ray-Ban Display (codenamed Hypernova). The new model uses an in-lens, full-color display in the right lens and ships with a wrist-based Meta Neural Band to control content via gestures. The Ray-Ban Display will be available September 30, with demos at Best Buy, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban shops and Verizon stores depending on location.

Meta positions the Display as a more polished take on early smart-glass concepts like Google Glass: it pairs with your phone to surface messages, videos, maps and notifications without reaching for a device. The display is monocular (right lens only), runs at 600×600 pixels with a roughly 20° field of view, and comes in two sizes and two colors with transition lenses.

• In-lens color display: 600×600 px, 20° FOV (right lens only)
• Controls: wrist-based gestures via included Meta Neural Band
• Battery: Meta estimates about six hours of mixed use; real-world testing pending

Alongside the Display, Meta opened preorders for the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 starting at $379. That update doubles battery life to as much as eight hours, adds faster case charging (50% in 20 minutes), and upgrades camera and recording options—up to 3K at 30fps or 1200p at 60fps for short clips.

• Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2: starts at $379, up to 8 hours battery, quick-charge case

Meta also listed the Oakley Meta Vanguard for preorder at $499 with an October 21 launch. The Vanguard leans into Oakley’s sports DNA: wraparound frames, a 12MP, 122° nose-bridge camera, an Action Button for quick capture modes, up to nine hours of battery life, an IP67 rating, and Garmin integration for outdoors and performance tracking.

• Oakley Meta Vanguard: $499, 12MP camera, IP67, Garmin integration, ~9 hours battery

Taken together, the releases show a push to make smart glasses more mainstream: better battery life, more capable cameras, and clearer controls. But the products also raise familiar questions about comfort, distraction with monocular displays, privacy, and how third parties will access and store sensor and media data.

What this means for businesses and government

Organizations evaluating smart-glass pilots should weigh practical wins—hands-free workflows, live coaching, retail demos—against operational needs like data pipelines, security, and compliance. Field-service teams can gain speed and accuracy with overlays and hands-free capture, while retailers can use in-store demos to drive adoption and measure conversion.

Key practical questions to answer before deployment include:

• How will captured media be stored, tagged, and accessed securely?
• What metrics will prove ROI for training, safety, or sales conversions?
• Are accessibility, distraction and privacy concerns addressed in policy and UX?

QuarkyByte’s approach is to blend technical due diligence with operational pilots: we map data flows, simulate deployments in retail and field scenarios, and quantify benefits like reduced task time or increased conversion. That lets teams move from demo to scale while controlling risk and cost.

If you’re planning a pilot, start with a focused use case, instrument metrics up front, and define privacy and storage rules before devices roll out. Meta’s new hardware narrows capability gaps, but integration, governance and real-world testing still determine whether smart glasses deliver measurable impact.