Meta readies two prescription-supported Ray-Ban AI glasses, set to launch next week: Report

Meta is planning to launch two new Ray-Ban smart glasses next week, especially aimed at prescription wearers. According to a new report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the glasses will be sold alongside EssilorLuxottica SA and will come with prescription support. However, this will mark the first time that Meta will be introducing prescription support for its Ray-Ban series.

What to expect from new Ray-Ban glasses?

Reportedly, the new glasses will come in rectangular and rounded style options and could be sold primarily through traditional eyewear channels.

Notably, these will not be a new generation of Meta Ray-Ban glasses. The glasses, codenamed Scriber and Blazer, were earlier spotted in US Federal Communications Commission filings by The Verge.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had hinted at the importance of the prescription category for the company while speaking during an earnings call earlier this year. Zuckerberg said, “Billions of people wear glasses or contacts for vision correction. And I think that we’re at a moment similar to when smartphones arrived, and it was clearly only a matter of time until all those flip phones became smartphones.”

“It’s hard to imagine a world in several years where most glasses that people wear aren’t AI glasses,” he added.

Meta has been the leader in the smart glasses category, but the new report also noted that Apple is planning to begin shipping its first glasses, without a display or AR support, as soon as next year. Meanwhile, ChatGPT maker OpenAI has also been reported to be working on a slew of new AI-powered products, which could include smart glasses as well. The company had acquired former Apple designer Jony Ive's startup io Products and is said to be working on releasing the new products as soon as next year.

As for Meta, an earlier report by The Information had noted that the company is planning to release its first smartwatch later this year. The project, codenamed ‘Malibu 2’, will feature health tracking support along with a built-in Meta AI assistant.

The report had also noted that the company has about four augmented and mixed-reality (MR) glasses in development. It had also reportedly told Reality Labs employees in December that Phoenix MR glasses have been delayed to 2027.

However, the Reality Labs division hasn't seen the best of times at Meta, with the company laying off around 1,500 employees from the division in early January and another several hundred employees being laid off in March.