Nicely, they’re again – or a minimum of, Meta’s introduced some new parts for Ray Ban Tales, which don’t take it into AR territory simply but. However they may very well be related for some customers.

First off, Meta’s added new voice instructions throughout the system, which is able to allow you to answer to incoming WhatsApp, Messenger, and textual content messages simply by talking.

As per Meta:

“As soon as your message is learn out, say ‘Hey Fb, reply’, and also you’re off to the races, whereas you too can now tee up a brand new WhatsApp, Messenger, or textual content message with a single voice command. For instance, you possibly can say, ‘Hey Fb, ship Jasmine a message on WhatsApp: can’t watch for spring break,’ and your glasses will verify the message earlier than sending.”

That is one among a number of new voice controls that you may activate when carrying your Meta glasses – which could look a bit of bizarre to passers-by, however may very well be helpful for replying on the go.

Meta’s additionally seeking to make its voice instructions extra conversational and responsive, with extra natural-sounding engagement.

“As a substitute of claiming, ‘Ship a message’, quickly you’ll be capable to additionally say issues like, ‘Ask Martha if she needs to return to the celebration’, or ‘Inform David I like him’, and the glasses will be capable to infer that you just’re making an attempt to ship a message. They’ll even know whether or not they need to punctuate your outgoing message with a interval or query mark based mostly on context cues.”

Once more, may very well be bizarre for individuals in your fast neighborhood, but it surely’s one other means to assist enhance the utility of the system, which may very well be helpful in some conditions.

Meta’s additionally integrating Spotify controls for Android (which is already accessible on iOS), enabling you to cue up music when carrying the system, whereas it’s additionally rolling out Meta accounts to Ray-Ban Tales, which is able to imply that you may log into their good glasses with out utilizing a Fb account.

So, cool, proper? Some new tweaks for Ray Ban Tales, which is able to present further, useful worth in some methods.

However they’re not main updates – they’re not Meta’s long-awaited AR glasses, that are reportedly nonetheless in improvement.

There have been reviews, at one stage, that Meta had shelved its AR glasses mission as a part of its broader cost-cutting push, however extra not too long ago, Meta has indicated that the following stage for the system shall be coming within the subsequent few years, which can even tie into its metaverse imaginative and prescient.

In accordance with Meta’s product roadmap, the following large replace for its Ray Ban Tales glasses, at the moment set for launch in 2025, will embrace a ‘viewfinder’ ingredient. That can allow you to learn incoming textual content messages inside your area of view, whereas they’ll additionally embrace QR code scanning capability, together with hand controls to navigate the show.

A full AR model is then slated for launch in 2027, which would be the subsequent large leap for Meta’s wearable tasks, and can deliver digital experiences into direct integration together with your on a regular basis life.

Although, as famous, that plan may very well be impacted by Meta’s effectivity push, which is able to see the corporate minimize over 20,000 employees in complete. However even inside this, Meta’s nonetheless spending large on its next-level developments, and given its alignment with the metaverse, it does look like the following stage of its good glasses will stay a precedence.

However we’re not there but. These are a lot smaller tweaks, that are unlikely to immediate a sudden rush on Ray Ban Tales gross sales, however they’re steps which can be crucial within the regular improvement of the system.

And so they look cool, which in itself is a significant win for the mission.