Meta may have just pulled a classic “oops, all leaks.” An unlisted promotional video, quickly yanked from the internet but not before UploadVR got receipts, appears to have spoiled two of the company’s big Connect announcements.
The clip showed off a pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses with an honest-to-goodness display, plus a mysterious pair of Oakley “Sphaera” wraparounds sporting a nose-mounted camera.
In other words, the company managed to spill its own tea.
The Ray-Ban model, shown with “Meta | Ray-Ban Display” branding, features a screen tucked neatly into the right lens.
The video teased a few sci-fi-but-now-real scenarios: asking Meta AI a quick question, pulling up navigation in your line of sight, translating signs on the fly, and even using a wristband to “write” messages midair.
Forget swiping on your phone: this thing turns your hand into a Bluetooth keyboard.
That wristband, by the way, isn’t some cheap gimmick. Earlier this year, CNBC reported that Meta has been cooking up a controller for its codenamed “Hypernova” glasses using sEMG.
It listens to the tiny electrical signals in your arm muscles and interprets them as gestures. The leaked clip sure looked like that futuristic wrist-wand in action.
Meanwhile, the Oakley-branded Sphaera glasses looked like something straight out of a cyberpunk ski resort, sleek wraparounds with a little camera perched on the bridge.
Less AR productivity tool, more “spy movie villain chic.”
All of this was supposed to stay under wraps until Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s big Connect keynote, scheduled for Wednesday at 8 PM ET.
Instead, we now know he’ll be strutting onstage with at least two new pieces of face hardware in tow.
Whether these glasses are practical or just another $300 gadget to forget in a drawer is still TBD. (But hey, at least your sunglasses might finally justify the price tag.)
Will Meta’s leaked Ray-Ban display glasses with gesture control finally make AR mainstream, or are we still years away from people wanting to wear computers on their faces? Do you think the muscle-sensing wristband controller is genuinely innovative, or just an overly complex solution to problems touchscreens already solve? Tell us below in the comments, or reach us via our Twitter or Facebook.
