The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have been upgraded with two new artificial intelligence (AI) features, announced on Monday. The first feature, known as Live AI, provides real-time video processing, allowing the integrated Meta AI to continuously observe the user’s environment and respond to inquiries related to what it sees. The second feature, live translation, enables the AI to translate spoken language in real-time among supported languages. This capability was highlighted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the Connect 2024 event. The rollout of these features will initially be available to participants in Meta’s Early Access Programme across Canada and the United States.
The tech company has shared that these new AI enhancements are included in the v11 software update for the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which is currently being distributed to eligible devices.
With Live AI, Meta AI gains access to the cameras embedded in the smart glasses, allowing for continuous processing of the video feed. This functionality is comparable to OpenAI’s recently launched Advanced Voice with Vision feature in ChatGPT. The company noted that during interactions, the AI can see what the user sees and engage in a more organic conversation regarding that context.
Users are allowed to engage with Meta AI without needing to use the “Hey Meta” activation phrase. They can pose follow-up questions and refer back to earlier topics discussed during the interaction, as explained by the company.
In addition, users can seamlessly shift topics and revisit previous discussions. The announcement indicated, “Eventually, Live AI will, at the appropriate moment, provide helpful suggestions even before you ask.”
The live translation feature delivers instantaneous translation of speech between English and Spanish, French, or Italian. If a user is conversing with someone who speaks one of these languages, Meta AI will translate the dialogue in real-time and play the translated audio through the glasses’ open-ear speakers. Users also have the option to view the transcription on their smartphones.
Meta has advised that while these features are innovative, they may not always guarantee perfect accuracy, and the company is committed to gathering user feedback to enhance the AI functionalities further. Currently, there is no indication of when these features will become available to all users worldwide, and there has been no announcement regarding the release of these AI capabilities in India.
