Meta’s Connect 2026 event on September 23 laid out the company’s most ambitious hardware push yet, centering on three things: a new category of VR device, a wider range of AI glasses than it has ever offered, and deeper integration of its Muse personal AI agent across all of them.
The headline product is Meta VR Glasses, priced at $1,299.99 and due in Spring 2027. Weighing around 100 grams, the device is five times lighter than Meta Quest 3, according to the company. It uses a 5K Infinite Display built on micro-OLED panels, and offloads battery and processors into a separate puck that clips to a belt or pocket.
Users navigate by eye movement and hand gestures rather than controllers, and can turn any flat surface into a keyboard and touchpad. A photorealistic video-call feature called Hologram, which renders a real-time digital likeness of the caller, will ship with the device and roll out in early access on WhatsApp for Meta Ray-Ban Display users in the coming months.
On AI glasses, Meta is expanding to more than 100 styles across Ray-Ban, Oakley, and its own Meta Glasses line by year end. The newest addition is a dedicated audio category: Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses combine open-ear audio with AI, offer 12 hours of battery life, and come in Clubmaster and Burbank frames.
The third-generation Ray-Ban Meta adds an Aviator shape and a cat-eye style called Zena, along with a slimmer design and longer battery life than previous models. Meta Glasses are arriving in Singapore, South Korea, and Mexico immediately, with the UAE and Brazil listed as coming soon.
Software features for AI glasses announced at the event include FDA-cleared hearing enhancement for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, available later this year in the US for $149.99. The glasses will also gain hands-free guided workouts, Dolby Atmos video capture, and landmark-based walking directions.
Muse, Meta’s personal AI agent launched a few weeks before Connect, is getting a significant upgrade. A new real-time voice mode allows extended back-and-forth conversation while Muse continues working on tasks in the background.
An avatar layer called Muse Realtime Avatar, developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs, will put an expressive animated face to those conversations. Muse is also getting its own email address, Mac computer-use capability, and access to a longer list of retail and productivity connectors including Walmart, Sephora, Notion, GitHub, and Instacart. Integration with AI glasses is coming in the next few months, with hands-free activation by name.
Meta also teased Muse Charm, a pocket-sized physical device built around the Muse voice model. It offered no pricing or release date, saying more details would come later in the year.
For gaming, Beat Saber is getting its first major update in nearly a decade in Spring 2027, introducing a hand-tracking play mode called Flux. A wave of new titles for Meta VR Glasses and Quest were also announced, including Tetris Effect: Mixed Realities, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and Two Point Hospital.
