- Meta leaked videos of its new smart glasses before its Meta Connect event.
- The leaked videos show Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses with advanced tech features.
- Meta's CEO believes smart glasses will be key for future AI interactions.
Meta's would-be surprise announcement about its new smart glasses display was leaked on Monday ahead of a major company event. The culprit? Meta itself.
Meta posted and then removed a YouTube video showing off its new Ray-Ban smart glasses and Oakley smart glasses days before Meta Connect, the company's annual flagship conference that is set for Wednesday and Thursday this week.
UploadVR first reported on the leaked video, which it also captured and uploaded clips of to X. A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed the leak to Business Insider.
One video clip shows off a new pair of Meta Ray-Ban glasses that include a heads-up display, or HUD, that will let wearers superimpose maps and text onto the real world, as well as a wristband that interacts with them. The glasses appear to be labeled "Display." The second video clip shows off a pair of wraparound Meta Oakley glasses with a center camera.
Meta did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The leaked video appears to have spoiled what could have been an exciting surprise at Meta Connect — the integrated HUD, which brings the company a step closer to producing commercial glasses with the level of tech it showed off in its Orion prototype.
Meta's Orion glasses, which Business Insider's Peter Kafka tried out last year, are augmented-reality glasses that come with a HUD and a wristband that tracks muscle movements. Meta said at the time the product was too expensive to bring to mass market.
Meta isn't the first company to show off smart glasses with a built-in display. Google showed off its own version in May, powered by Android XR, a new platform for augmented reality glasses. Google is partnering with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster to design its frames, which are expected to be released later this year.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been bullish on smart glasses. During the company's second-quarter earnings call in July, he said smart glasses will eventually be the primary way people interact with AI and that anyone not using them would be at a "cognitive disadvantage."
