At the annual Meta Connect developer conference on September 23, 2026, the company unveiled three versions of smart glasses with built-in artificial intelligence. This is not just an upgrade of familiar gadgets, but an attempt to make AI a constant companion in everyday life — from a walk down the street to watching a match.
The first model is the lightweight VR glasses Project Phoenix for 1299 dollars, aimed at watching sports and gaming. The second has no camera at all, with a focus on audio and privacy: it records only sound and connects to the AI agent Muse. The third is an updated version of Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 with a camera, improved battery life of up to nine hours, and new frame styles. All three run on the Muse Spark model and integrate with the Muse agent, which can book tickets, conduct video conversations, and perform tasks on the internet.
Behind the outward lightness lies a shift in how we interact with technology. Previously, a smartphone required taking it out of your pocket and looking at the screen. Now the assistant is always before your eyes and at your ear, ready to react to what is seen or heard. This changes habits: instead of looking up information yourself, a person can simply ask the glasses what is depicted on a sign or how to get to a desired place.
The compromise with privacy is especially noticeable. The model without a camera is a direct response to users' concerns about constant recording. Meta is clearly taking into account criticism of previous versions, where the camera raised questions about surveillance. However, even the audio version collects data about conversations and surroundings so that the AI can better understand context. The company promises local processing of some tasks, but the exact details of the mechanism have not yet been disclosed.
It is interesting how this will affect attention and relationships. AI glasses can free up hands and mind for real communication, but at the same time they risk making a person even more dependent on algorithmic prompts. Instead of noticing details or recalling facts ourselves, we will increasingly rely on an external "mind" in a frame. This resembles an old saying: a tool that makes life easier gradually becomes part of it.
New opportunities are opening up for developers and businesses. Muse is already integrating with services like Expedia and Instacart, and the Connector platform will allow the creation of custom extensions. The glasses are turning not just into a gadget, but into an entry point to a service ecosystem where AI acts as an intermediary between a person and the world.
Ultimately, Meta is offering not just new glasses, but a new way of being connected to technology — always and imperceptibly. The main question now is not whether we will buy them, but how ready we are for AI to see and hear the same things we do.
