In a recent earnings call, Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that he firmly believes AI glasses will become the primary way people interact with artificial intelligence. He emphasized that individuals without AI glasses will be at a significant cognitive disadvantage in the future. Zuckerberg pointed out that glasses are an ideal medium to allow AI to observe and listen to users' daily lives in real time and engage in conversations with them.
He mentioned that as technology advances, adding displays to glasses will further unlock their potential. Whether it is the wider holographic view provided by Meta's next-generation Orion augmented reality glasses or the small displays on more common daily AI glasses, they will offer users a richer experience.
Meta has been committed to developing smart glasses, including the Meta glasses developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban and the latest Oakley Meta glasses. These products not only allow users to listen to music, take photos, and record videos, but also enable Meta AI to answer users' questions, including what users see. Notably, the sales of Ray-Ban Meta glasses have increased by more than three times year-over-year, which has brought unexpected success for Meta in the smart glasses market.
However, Zuckerberg is well aware that although the Reality Labs department has invested heavily in technological research and development, its huge losses have worried investors. Recently, Meta revealed that Reality Labs had an operating loss of $4.53 billion in the second quarter, and since 2020, the total loss of the department has approached $70 billion. Zuckerberg hopes to justify the future development of Reality Labs by emphasizing the importance of AI glasses.
Of course, future consumer AI devices do not necessarily have to be glasses. OpenAI recently acquired the startup of former Apple executive Jony Ive for $650 million to develop new consumer devices, and other startups are also exploring different forms of devices such as AI pins and accessories. Although glasses seem more appropriate, future AI devices may take shapes we cannot imagine today.
Zuckerberg is eager for glasses to become the ideal way to merge the real and virtual worlds. He said, "Glasses will be the best medium to integrate the physical and digital worlds, making the vision of the metaverse even more important, and AI technology will accelerate this process."