Meta's Big Glasses Show: Glasses With No Camera?
Meta starts its two-day Connect 2026 event on September 23, and the main news is expected to be its first smart glasses with no camera.
The event runs September 23 to 24, 2026. Meta will livestream the main talks on September 23 at 7PM ET / 4PM PT and on September 24 at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. People can sign up on Meta's website with name, email and country. The stream will also be on the Meta for Developers Facebook page, with translations for other languages Engadget.
Early reports point to new AI glasses, which are glasses with a built-in voice helper, and a mixed-reality headset, large goggles that add computer images to the real world, as the main hardware news Engadget. The most talked-about product is a pair with no camera, unofficially called Luna. As of September 22, it was expected as early as Wednesday at the event Reuters. Other reports said Meta plans to launch camera-free smart glasses in the fall Reuters. Reports describe two styles.
This follows Connect 2025, which brought the second-generation Ray-Ban Meta, the Oakley Meta Vanguards, and the Meta Ray-Ban Display. Mark Zuckerberg showed the Meta Ray-Ban Display and Meta Neural Band at that event. The Ray-Ban Display is described as Meta's first AI glasses with a small screen inside. Meta says those Display glasses can make calls and answer texts while the phone stays in the pocket.
Meta makes its current glasses with EssilorLuxottica. In June, Meta launched a new range of Meta Glasses starting at $299 Reuters, with 26 styles across colors, lenses and frames. Meta describes its AI glasses generally as having a built-in screen, camera, and AI you can talk to, including Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta models for daily use. Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta AI glasses start at $224. The Ray-Ban Display glasses launched last year at $800.
For people who need prescription lenses, Meta showed two new Ray-Ban prescription smart glasses for $499 in March, with flexible hinges, changeable nose pads and temple tips an eye doctor can adjust. In June, Meta also said it would give Ray-Ban Meta glasses to every blind veteran in America. Ray-Ban Meta can livestream to Facebook or Instagram without using hands, with comments shown during the stream. Meta states that Connect 2026 will show its latest advances in AI, AI glasses and VR.
In my view, a version with no camera tests a simple idea. Cameras are useful for photos, live video and letting AI see what you see. But they can make people uneasy in offices, schools and public places. Glasses built around sound and voice help, like earbuds you wear on your face, avoid much of that worry. They can cost less to make and do more work on the glasses themselves. If the price and battery are right, the gain is plain. People will keep them on in more places, for longer.
