Meta's HUD glasses with the sEMG wristband will in fact be Ray-Ban branded, a leaked video which also depicts the HUD and wristband in action reveals.
A now-removed unlisted video on Meta's YouTube channel showed what will soon be Meta and EssilorLuxottica's full smart glasses lineup (from right to left above):
- The recently-launched Oakley Meta HSTN glasses.
- The regular Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
- The rumored Oakley Meta Sphaera glasses, with eye protection and a centered camera.
- The rumored monocular heads-up display (HUD) glasses controlled by Meta's long-in-development sEMG wristband, which are labeled as "Meta Ray-Ban" with the word "Display" underneath.
To be clear, this is not true AR, and it's far less ambitious than the Orion prototype. The clip shows the fixed HUD, visible to the right eye only, being used for Meta AI and on-foot navigation, as well as the wristband being used for finger-swiping letters on a physical surface to respond to a message.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that Meta plans to sell the product starting at $800.
The Meta Ray-Ban Display segment from the video.
That Meta is launching smart glasses with a HUD controlled by its long-in-development sEMG wristband at Connect 2025 is not a surprise. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, The Verge, The Information, The Financial Times, and CNBC have all reported that Meta intends to release such a device this year, and in July, renders of it and its wristband were discovered in early firmware.
But what is somewhat of a surprise is that it will be Ray-Ban branded. Last year, The Information reported that the glasses would be released by Meta without EssilorLuxottica, because the Ray-Ban and Oakley owner "balked" at how thick the temple of the glasses needed to be to deliver a display.
According to that report, the glasses will weigh 70 grams, compared to the 50 grams of Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
David Heaney
Assuming The Information's reporting was accurate, what may have changed EssilorLuxottica's mind between then and now is Meta investing €3 billion into it, taking a 3% stake, with reports suggesting that Meta is considering further investment to bring this to 5% over time. As we noted at the time, this likely gives Meta more of a say over which products get to ship with EssilorLuxottica's prized luxury branding.
The decision may have happened earlier than this, however. Back in January, The Financial Times reported that next-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses would get a display this year.
The Ray-Ban branding should lead to much wider consumer appeal than had Meta gone alone, as well as the potential to demo and sell the glasses in some of EssilorLuxottica's thousands of stores worldwide.
David Heaney
The main Meta Connect 2025 keynote will be streamed at 5pm PT on Wednesday, and the developer keynote at 10am PT on Thursday.
UploadVR will be on-site at Meta's HQ, and we'll endeavor to bring you full coverage of all the biggest announcements.
