During its annual CONNECT conference, Meta announced the launch of its new generation of smart glasses, in collaboration with Ray-Ban. These glasses feature a built-in display for the first time, starting at $799. They will be available to the public in the United States on September 30, and are expected to be available in the UAE before the end of the year.While the screen built into the right lens of the glasses remains simple, it offers innovative features such as reading messages, previewing images, and displaying real-time translations during conversations. But the most exciting experience was the accompanying gray strap, which uses EMG sensors that capture electrical signals from the body, allowing the glasses to be controlled via hand gestures.The American website CNBC showcased the new glasses’ features, with the control mechanism giving the user a new interactive feel, similar to using an invisible touchpad. Users can navigate between apps with a fist or pinch their fingers, activate the camera, or control the volume with a simple swipe gesture. Despite some difficulties with response accuracy, the American website described the experience as engaging and enjoyable.The glasses also support the META AI voice assistant for voice command control, along with the LIVE CAPTIONS feature, which has proven effective in noisy environments, displaying spoken words on the screen in a way similar to instant translation on a TV.While some argue that the price of the glasses may be a barrier to their widespread adoption, the combination of a built-in display and a sophisticated neural band reflects Meta’s technological advancements as it pursues Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of glasses and wearables as smartphone alternatives. It’s still unclear whether the batteries have improved over the previous generation or remained the same. The most significant drawback of the previous generation was that the battery life did not last more than four hours, making it unsuitable for full-day use. Charging the battery also required removing the glasses and placing them in their case.If Meta, in collaboration with Ray-Ban, succeeds in solving the battery crisis to enable it to last a full day, it will be a major development in the world of wearable devices, and may soon replace smart watches. Glasses are a quick solution that is always on the face and in front of the eyes, unlike watches that require lifting to view, and their screens are small and limited. Glasses and their hidden screen also reduce the embarrassment of following alerts on the watch, which give the impression of inattention during meetings. Meanwhile, alerts directly in front of the eyes on glasses would be a brilliant solution for following alerts without the embarrassment caused by watches.But as usual, the presence of the glasses with the camera will raise new privacy questions, both on a day-to-day basis and through the uploading of all the user’s private data to Meta’s servers, which naturally raises numerous questions about privacy and data usage