At the recently concluded Meta Connect 2025, founder and CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, went on stage to show off the next-gen Ray-Ban Meta, a pair of smart glasses, and its AI capabilities.

The highlight of this keynote, however, wasn’t the device itself. It was how the smart glasses did not do as they were supposed to do. The setup was simple, a list of ingredients were spread on the table to make a Korean-inspired steak sauce. The prompt was a simple one: “What do I do first?” said content creator Jack Mancuso, after the AI specified the ingredients. Meta’s AI, however, did not respond as expected. After a lengthy pause, the AI acted as if all the ingredients spread out on the table had already been mixed. Mancuso cut the AI off by repeating his prompt and the AI repeated what it was trying to say earlier.

Mancuso blamed the Wi-Fi and immediately threw the spotlight back to Zuckerberg, who tried to make a joke about the matter. It did make me wonder if someone would be in trouble later that day.

Andrew Bosworth, CFO of Meta, later explained it wasn’t the Wi-Fi. When Mancuso activated Meta AI, it activated all the other Meta AI devices inside the building, and admitted they didn’t do a very good job in isolating the demo product. Sure, I guess.

In any case, this little hiccup did not stop Meta from introducing their devices. The first is the new generation of the Ray-Ban Meta. This pair of smart glasses lasts up to eight hours of “mixed use,” which means it can last way shorter than eight hours if you keep using it. It supports HD 3K recording.

Meta included a conversation focus with their smart glasses. So, when you are having a conversation with someone, the glasses’ open ear speakers will fire up so you can hear the person you’re speaking with better. This is a feature that hasn’t been tested fully yet. This product is priced at $379, about P22,000.

The second device is the Meta Ray-Ban Display and this one has a partner called the Metal Neural Band. The Display will show you apps and feed you all sorts of information, alerts, and, probably ads? The Metal Neural Band is used to control the Display. You can write a message in the air and send it through one of Meta’s apps. We don’t know how accurate this is now. As of now, the Display and the Neural Band work for Meta’s apps, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. This is priced at $799, about P46,000.

Finally, we have the Oakley Meta Vanguard. This one is for the athletes. It has a wide camera positioned at the middle of the frame to allow users to take better shots. This is probably the ideal type of device for people who go out biking, hiking, or running, as it would allow them to take pictures and videos without having the need to whip out their phones. It is IP67, so a little dust and rain is all right when you go out for a jog.

Meta says the battery can last anywhere between six to nine hours and with the charging case you can get up to 36 hours. Charging from zero to 50% will take about 20 minutes. Meta priced this at $499, about P29,000.

What are these glasses anyway? These devices allow you to capture videos and play music and upload them in social media. It also offers AR experiences, such as notifications and alerts without needing your smartphone out of your pocket. You can read messages and view live translations. It should also be noted that these are the devices that Meta is investing to ensure you remain on your screen much more frequently. They do make more money the more you stay in their apps. All that doomscrolling in IG is basically throwing big bucks to Meta’s way. With the screen lodged directly on your eyes, Meta has more chances to show more things to you. Likewise, you are more likely to record content and upload them in Meta’s own platforms for other people to like and share.

Aside from these, Meta announced Horizon TV for the Quest. This is a streaming hub where you can watch Amazon Prime Video and Peacock (we don’t have Peacock in the Philippines officially). Disney+ will be joining the fray soon. No other news if others such as HBO MAX and Netflix would also be coming to this platform.

We don’t have an official Meta store in the country. But if you’re interested, some of the tech shops will be sure to have them. The Quest is in almost every gadget shop I’ve been to in malls.

It’s also worth noting that Meta isn’t the only one spending billions to build an AR/VR experience with AI. Apple has their Vision Pro. And Google has launched Android XR, which is an AI-powered OS that is headed for headsets and smart glasses, with Gemini integration, and is an open and unified platform for other makers and developers to use.

And as of right now, tech companies are facing challenges in launching headsets and glasses to a wider mainstream audience. But unless they discover that killer app, it still may take some time before it becomes big enough to inspire a cultural change.