At the Meta Connect developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg, head of the Facebook group Meta, shows the prototype of computer glasses that can display digital objects in transparent lenses.
Andrej Sokolow | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Meta on Thursday revealed the latest version of its experimental smart glasses intended to help bolster research into artificial intelligence, robotics and machine perception.
The Aria Gen 2 glasses, as they’re called, are designed for researchers to use as tools to assist with their studies into robotic systems, advanced sensors and other technologies, Meta said in a blog post. For instance, the startup Envision is using the new glasses to help it create services for the visually and hearing impaired, according to the blog.
The new glasses are an improvement from the Aria Gen 1 glasses, which Meta announced in 2020. The Aria Gen 2 represent the latest step by Meta in its efforts to build out smart glasses into the next major computing platform after the smartphone. The company also sells the $300 Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which have an AI voice assistant and can be used to take photos and videos, and in September, the company unveiled its cutting-edge Orion glasses prototype that feature full augmented-reality capabilities.
Among the Aria Gen 2 glasses’ improvements over its predecessor are upgraded sensors including one that measures heart rates, the ability to perform more complicated calculations on the device itself with Meta’s custom computer chips and “all-day usability,” the blog said.
“Making them available to academic and commercial research labs through Project Aria will further advance open research and public understanding of a key set of technologies that we believe will help shape the future of computing and AI,” the company wrote.
Meta did not reveal when the device will be more widely available to researchers, but said that there is an option for them to sign-up for updates.
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