The bulky, black-framed prototype called "Orion" was able to overlay holographic images on a wearer's field of vision, and is ultimately intended to rival the smartphone.
"The right way to look at Orion is as a time machine," Zuckerberg said as he opened Meta's annual gathering of software developers at the tech titan's home campus in Silicon Valley.
"These glasses exist; they are awesome, and they are a glimpse of a future that is going to be pretty exciting," he said.
People have been slow to embrace headgear like Apple's pricey Vision Pro or even the more affordable Meta Quest models to explore augmented or virtual reality.
Meta is confident it can win them over by packing technology beefed up with artificial intelligence into stylish Ray-Ban glasses that can do things like answer questions about what you are looking at or act as a translator for conversations.
Orion, which is being tested internally at Meta, pushes the technology further to let wearers overlay digital content on their view of the world.
Zuckerberg has stated that he hopes to create an augmented reality device that would break Apple and Google's hold on delivering apps and products to consumers through the smartphone.
"With Orion, we are getting closer to achieving the dream... to create the next major computing platform that delivers a deep sense of presence, like you were right there with another person," Zuckerberg said.
"This is the physical world with holograms overlaid on it," he said.
Zuckerberg cautioned that Orion is a work in progress and years away as a product.
His team is striving to make the glasses more streamlined, fashionable, and affordable, he said.
The glasses weigh about 100 grams, more than a regular pair but far less than the Meta Quest or Apple's Vision Pro.
Orion users, close together physically or not, can interact with one another by chatting or playing virtual games.
Wristbands connected wirelessly to Orion sense slight gestures like finger-tapping to trigger tasks such as calling up and responding to messages.
"You're going to be able to tap your fingers and bring up a game of cards or chess or holographic ping pong or whatever it is that you want to do together," Zuckerberg said.
Orion also has eye tracking and uses voice as a method of control.
Meta unveils star-studded AI assistants
Menlo Park, United States (AFP) Sept 25, 2024 -
Meta launched AI chatbots voiced by Hollywood celebrities like John Cena and Judi Dench on Wednesday, betting that its billions of users are eager to embrace artificial intelligence.
"I think that voice has the potential to be one of, if not the most frequent ways, that we all interact with AI," said Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company's annual product presentation event.
"It is just a lot better," he said.
The deployment comes months after OpenAI previewed its own ChatGPT voice feature, which drew controversy for its similarity to actress Scarlett Johansson's voice.
Meta has obtained permission from the stars featured in its new voice tool, which will be available on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
However, Meta AI won't be accessible in Europe due to concerns about compliance with EU data protection laws and potential fines.
Meta's AI relies on content and data from its platforms' legions of users, a practice that involves numerous obligations and safeguards in Europe.
- 400 million users -
Like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, Meta AI is an AI assistant that answers questions, creates images, writes messages and even provides companionship.
This new version builds on the initial release unveiled a year ago. Meta reports that over 400 million people already consult Meta AI at least once a month, and the company aims to make it "the most widely used AI assistant by the end of the year."
Critics, however, point out that many users stumble into MetaAI inadvertently, as it has replaced the search function on apps such as WhatsApp.
Since ChatGPT's breakthrough, the major tech companies have been rapidly developing AI applications capable of producing high-quality content from simple queries.
Competition is fierce, with Google and Microsoft having a head start in productivity features, and Apple entering the market with AI-capable iPhones.
However, these models require substantial technical infrastructure, energy, and skilled engineers, significantly impacting company resources.
Meta believes its enhanced assistant sounds more natural, can interact verbally, and analyze images. Like other chatbots, it can suggest recipes from food photos or edit images based on simple user requests.
Despite concerns about heavy spending on AI and virtual reality, Meta's profits have soared, with its share price up 60 percent since the beginning of the year. The company's success rides on strong advertising results.
But the social media giant's heavy spending on AI and virtual reality technology has always been a concern for investors and observers.
"When I think about AI, Meta is not necessarily the first brand that comes to mind," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi told AFP.
"And their biggest hurdle is going to be privacy and trust: a lot of consumers will have issues with trusting that the data is not being used for other reasons."
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