Meta Connect is fast approaching, and with it we’re expecting to see some significant hardware enhancements to the smart glasses the company makes in collaboration with Ray-Ban and Oakley. But it also now looks like the software will be getting a significant upgrade too.
That’s based on information shared in a report by UploadVR which highlights a few interesting details from the Meta Connect schedule and LinkedIn profiles for Meta staff.
The schedule includes a handful of sessions on how to take advantage of a “new developer toolkit” that will be announced at Connect. Looking at the LinkedIn profiles for the three members of Meta’s team hosting these sessions we can see that they’re specialists in bringing apps to Meta’s glasses, helped to develop Meta’s previous AR platform, and have aided external partners in creating AR and AI content for Meta’s wearable devices.
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Couple all of this with a CNBC report that says Meta has been working with third-party developers to create experimental apps for its upcoming smart glasses with a display – which will also come packaged with a wristband controller – and it certainly seems like Meta’s glasses’ software is getting a serious glow up.
One that will support proper apps for the first time.
More than an update for developers
Usually developer kit updates aren’t super relevant for non developers, but here I’d argue that actually, we should be paying a lot of attention to Meta.
Meta’s existing glasses platform is basically an assistant with integrations with other apps like getting Spotify to play the music you want – rather than the glasses running the app in a way you can properly interact with. The above details suggest the new glasses will instead run some kind of operating system to more natively support apps in a way that could more closely resemble how your smartphone works.
Exactly how this will function is yet to be seen. I expect it will involve some combination of on-glasses processing, on-smartphone processing, and probably connecting to an external server for the widest range of tools. But whatever form it takes, this would be a serious improvement to the utility of Meta’s smart glasses.
And they’re already super handy, so any upgrade will only help supercharge their effectiveness.
I expect the apps won’t yet take the form of full-on AR applications you’d expect from Orion or Snap’s AR specs, but if these new HUD-equipped glasses feel like a fully-fleshed platform rather than just a smart accessory I can start to see why Meta is looking to charge prices starting at around $800 (about £600 / AU$1,200).
As with all leaks and speculation, we’ll have to wait and see what Meta actually announces at Connect on September 17 to know its plans – but more and more, this is looking like an event you won’t want to miss.