Meta Connect, the company's annual event dedicated to all things AR, VR, AI and the metaverse is just a few days away. And once again, it seems like it will be a big year for smart glasses and AI.
The biggest news of the day will be Meta's next-generation of smart glasses. The frames, often referred to by their reported internal name "Hypernova," will be the first consumer-ready glasses from Meta that have a display. Many already know quite a bit about these thanks to more than a year of leaks.
As with other recent years, AI will be a major theme throughout. Meta AI has a billion monthly users (something Zuckerberg will surely remind us of) and everyone is expecting to see new features for Meta AI both on the company's glasses and within its apps. Business Insider reports the company has been working on new lineup of non-English speaking "character-driven" bots for its apps. (Meta's character-centric chatbots have also faced scrutiny, with the company recently blocking teens' access to many user-generated characters amid growing safety concerns.)
While the metaverse has taken somewhat of a backseat to AI in recent years, it wouldn't be Connect without some VR-related news. In a recent Instagram post, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth teased "metaverse software" updates related to Horizon Worlds at Connect. The company recently offered a preview to developers of its plan to bring AI-powered NPCs to the metaverse, and everyone should expect to hear more about how generative AI could help shape the metaverse.
This year, the event will take a slightly different format than in the past. Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to kick things off with an evening keynote at 5:00 PM PT on Wednesday, 17 September. A developer keynote with other executives will take place the next morning on 18 September, beginning at 10:00 AM, with more talks and developer sessions to follow.
It's not clear why Meta changed things up this year, but it is shaping up to be a particularly eventful year for Connect. Everyone is expecting two new models of smart glasses, including Meta's first to have a display, as well as new Meta AI and metaverse updates.
Here's a closer look at what's coming and what to keep an eye on:
New and Updated Smart Glasses
The biggest news of the day will be Meta's next-generation of smart glasses. The frames, often referred to by their reported internal name "Hypernova," will be the first consumer-ready glasses from Meta that have a display. Many already know quite a bit about these thanks to more than a year of leaks.
While the frames are expected to have a small display on one side, they won't offer the kind of immersive augmented reality experience many have seen on Meta's Orion prototype. Instead the display will allow you to view things like notifications and photo previews. The glasses will also come with a dedicated wristband, similar to what the company showed off with Orion, that allows the wearer to control specific features through hand gestures.
Meta AI
As with other recent years, AI will be a major theme throughout. Meta AI has a billion monthly users (something Zuckerberg will surely remind us of) and everyone is expecting to see new features for Meta AI both on the company's glasses and within its apps. Business Insider reports the company has been working on new lineup of non-English speaking "character-driven" bots for its apps. (Meta's character-centric chatbots have also faced scrutiny, with the company recently blocking teens' access to many user-generated characters amid growing safety concerns.)
At the same time, Zuckerberg could use Connect to shore up expectations around its Llama models. The company's larger Llama 4 model has been delayed and reports suggest Meta's engineers have been struggling to improve it. There are other signs that Zuckerberg may be backing away from open-source AI.
Metaverse
While the metaverse has taken somewhat of a backseat to AI in recent years, it wouldn't be Connect without some VR-related news. In a recent Instagram post, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth teased "metaverse software" updates related to Horizon Worlds at Connect. The company recently offered a preview to developers of its plan to bring AI-powered NPCs to the metaverse, and everyone should expect to hear more about how generative AI could help shape the metaverse.
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