Meta’s flagship developer conference is expected to further its vision for ambient computing yet again, with AI-enabled smart glasses likely taking the spotlight. Look for less moonshotting and more hard-nosed hardware that brings contextual AI to your everyday life — not to mention a clearer view of the roadmap for Horizon OS and the company’s partners.
AI Smart Glasses Are the Stars of Meta’s Showcase
Meta is reportedly set to show off a new line of glasses under the code name Hypernova that sit between simple camera-first eyewear and full AR. The glasses, as reported by UploadVR and others, include a tiny display in the right lens and are wirelessly connected to a wristband that can read neural commands through surface electromyography (sEMG). That wrist interface — a longtime obsession of researchers at Meta Reality Labs, the unit’s new name in recent weeks — could also make for subtle, near-invisible input at work without always having to talk out loud.
With Hypernova, it’s utility over form, some may say. Picture light overlays like time, weather, notifications, turn-by-turn prompts, live captions and — sure! — translations as well as framing elements for photos and short video. Meta’s assistant would find answers as on-lens text when elicited, minimizing audio dependence. A leaked image obtained by UploadVR hints at a chunkier form factor than the Ray-Bans, and CNBC describes internal discussions about an approximately $800 price for Hypernova, which puts it in premium gadget territory without going after full AR complexity.
Ray-Ban Momentum and Next-Gen Models on the Horizon
Meta’s partnership with the eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica has been one of the few consumer successes in wearable tech, generating over 2 million units sold for Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses as of February 2025, according to reporting cited by The Information. That traction also seems to be expediting the progression of next-gen models — said to bear Aperol and Bellini codenames and due in 2026. Rumors suggest more-thorough AI inclusions like facial recognition and “always-on” assistant sessions that work even when the lock screen isn’t active.
Those capacities will come under scrutiny, if true. Continuous recognition and always-on AI pose privacy, battery, and regulatory questions — especially across markets with varying norms. Look for Meta’s efforts to be around consent-driven controls, visible recording indicators, and guardrails — the lessons learned from earlier wearables that tripped at social acceptability more than pure tech readiness.
Oakley’s Performance Play Targets Athletes and Creators
Like fashion-forward Ray-Bans, Meta’s representation with Oakley has skewed sport and performance. Their predecessors, the HTSN Limited Editions (3K video capture and double the battery life over previous models), were well received among cyclists and outdoor creators. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Oakley is considering a smart revamp of its classic Sphaera frame, complete with what would be an off-center-mounted camera suited to vigorous activities.
It’s the formula you’d expect to see here, prioritizing durability, stable capture, and hands-free coaching (or telemetry overlays) for athletes. There’s clearer value in that niche than with general-purpose AR, where ambitions can easily run far ahead of what people are comfortable wearing. If Oakley can serve up trustworthy stabilization, sweat resistance, and long-haul battery life, it could muscle its way into a defendable lane.
Quest Roadmap Stays Conservative Amid Mixed Reality Shift
Don’t expect a world-beating Quest 4. Meta just recently nudged the Quest 3S as a scaled-back model that still delivers solid performance, and meanwhile most reporting — including UploadVR and Mark Gurman — suggests that the high-end successor won’t step into the spotlight during this particular cycle. While the software ecosystem matures, the emphasis is still on making mixed reality more accessible.
Longer term, Meta is reportedly working on a light headset for 2026 that would push compute to an accompanying puck running Horizon OS. That split-architecture approach may result in lighter headgear and improved thermals, giving up a little bit of that elegance, at least perhaps, for comfort and battery wins. There’s also some talk about an ASUS ROG-branded headset that would run on Horizon OS — matching Meta’s wider strategy to license its OS to third-party hardware — although any such reveal could be held back for an ASUS-branded event.
The Through-Line Is Contextual AI Across Devices
Between glasses and headsets, the connective tissue is ambient AI that knows what you’re up to and offers help just in time without making you glance at a screen. Sock it to us, Meta: Expect a blow-by-blow rundown of how the company’s assistant — which is built on its own LLM stack — manages local capture and quick-ish tasks while punting heavier reasoning and translation to the cloud. The balance matters: how much latency people are willing to accept and their willingness to trade privacy will help decide whether people keep these devices on their faces outside the home.
The playbook is becoming clear. Ray-Ban models tackle mainstream capture and lightweight overlays; Hypernova seeks to add glanceable displays, alongside neural wrist input; sporty frames aim at athletes; while Quest remains the bedrock of mixed reality. If Meta can blend these tracks together under Horizon OS and keep developers enticed, Connect may be the time when “AI you wear” doesn’t feel so much like a proof of concept and more a daily practice.
