Yesterday on his Facebook account, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed his firm is updating its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses to include significant updates.
According to Zuckerberg, the new Ray-Ban Stories updates will introduce augmented reality (AR) transition lenses and extend its recording feature to support up to 60 seconds of user-recorded video.
Zuckerberg says that the Ray-Ban product now ships to more European regions, including Austria, Belgium, France, and Spain, following a successful 2021 for the smart fashion partnership.
Additionally, the CEO notes that the wearables will include French and Italian support for the platform’s voice Assistant tool. The Menlo Park-based firm announced several artificial intelligence (AI) innovations during an online keynote, including optimising its voice-activated assistant platform.
At the AI showcase, Meta introduced Project CAIRaoke, a conversational AI system that employs end-to-end neural models to generate fluid, conversational AI systems to advance digital assistants.
More about Ray-Ban Stories
The news comes after Meta partnered with Ray-Ban to create Stories in late 2021. The device allows wearers to enjoy AR-lite experiences that include immersive filters and interactive mini-games.
The device also contains two integrated 5MP cameras and three microphones that enable hands-free photo or video sharing, receive calls, and communicate with others using the platform’s AI assistant.
Last year, Jack McCauley, a former Oculus Co-Founder and Engineer, held a keynote speech about his time at the company, where he revealed his admiration for the Ray-Ban and Meta partnership.
During the event, Jack said:
“It’s a beginning for them […] The Rayban Glasses, that’s a great idea. That has legs, the team at Seattle, with their vast experience, will be able to make that work. The AR experience with the Rayban glasses is a win for them, not in the short term, but in the long term”
Project Cambria, Nazare and Horizon Worlds
At the Connect 2021 conference, Meta debuted Projects Cambria and Nazare, two follow-ups to its massively successful Meta Quest headset.
Project Cambria is a mixed reality (MR) headset with enhanced eye and facial-tracking systems that gathers biometric data to create real-time 3D digital avatars for use in the firm’s upcoming Metaverse platform.
On the other hand, Nazare is a pair of AR smart glasses that incorporates Meta’s robust AI framework to create voice-activated digital assistants that help with day-to-day tasks.
Nazare uses crucial spatial data from Matterport to enable its AI assistant to scan real-world environments, via onboard outward-facing cameras, and make suggestions such as telling a user where they left their keys.
The news comes as Meta is working round the clock to launch Horizon Worlds, the tech giant’s in-house Metaverse platform.
Horizon Worlds is a Metaverse that supports a growing selection of immersive experiences under one roof. Additionally, the platform supports Workrooms for enterprise-grade remote collaboration and Venues for digital live events.
Currently, Horizon Worlds is available as a limited beta for users in the United States and Canada aged 18 and older, although, the Menlo Park-based firm has not announced a global rollout for the platform.
