Meta's Glasses Can Focus in on Your Conversations With a New Update
Copilot's summary /take >>>>
Latest smart glasses news: Meta just rolled out a major update with a “Conversation Focus” feature, while CES 2025 showcased a wave of advanced AR/AI glasses from Google, Samsung, Xreal, and others. The market is heating up fast.
Key Highlights
- Meta’s Smart Glasses Update (Dec 2025)
- Meta introduced a “Conversation Focus” hearing assist feature in its v21 update.
- Uses beamforming microphones and spatial audio processing to amplify the voice of the person you’re speaking with in noisy environments like restaurants or trains CNET Tech Times.
- This positions Meta’s glasses not just as AR devices but also as assistive hearing tech.
- Smart Glasses Boom in 2025
- Tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Samsung, and Lenovo are betting heavily on smart glasses as the next big consumer gadget Engadget.
- Unlike VR headsets, smart glasses are being pitched as everyday wearable devices with practical AI-driven features.
- Google’s Project Aura and other AI-glass prototypes are expected to ship in early 2026 glassalmanac.com.
- CES 2025 Innovations
- CES showcased 8 standout smart glasses with features like:
- Micro OLED displays for crisp AR visuals
- Automatic captioning for real-time subtitles
- Color-changing lenses for adaptive environments
- Heads-up displays for navigation and productivity ZDNET PCMag Tom's Guide
- Reviewers noted that this year’s models feel more polished and closer to mainstream adoption.
- Privacy Concerns
- MSC Cruises recently banned smart glasses in public areas on its ships, citing risks of covert recording USA TODAY.
- This highlights ongoing privacy debates around wearable tech.
What This Means
- Smart glasses are shifting from niche prototypes to mainstream products.
- The integration of AI (voice amplification, real-time captions, contextual assistance) is making them more useful than VR headsets for everyday life.
2026 could be the first year where consumers seriously weigh battery life, style, and AI features when choosing smart glasses, much like smartphones today glassalmanac.com
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Meta's Glasses Can Focus in on Your Conversations With a New Update
Max McHone
Dec. 11, 2025 5:51 a.m. PT
Meta's Glasses Can Focus in on Your Conversations With a New Update
Meta smart glasses are ready to focus in on conversations now.
Joanna Desmond-Stein/CNET
Sorry, can you say that again? Meta's smart glasses are introducing a new hearing assist function called Conversation Focus that, in noisy places, could make it easier to hear whoever is talking to you. The feature is part of a year-end update to Meta's smart glasses lineup that was just announced today.
Conversation Focus was promised in September at Meta's glasses-focused developer conference. And I heard it demoed then, too. The feature works using the beam-forming microphones on the glasses to directionally focus on whoever is in front of you, and then filter out other noise.
The idea is similar in theory to what an FDA-approved pair of hearing assistance glasses made by Nuance Audio does. The update should be arriving soon for Meta Ray-Ban and Oakley HSTN smart glasses, but it is available as an Early Access feature you have to opt into first.
The V21 update adds a new camera-enabled AI feature with Spotify that launches playlists inspired by whatever you are looking at. Google has unveiled a similar feature coming to its glasses next year. Meta is also adding voice command shortcuts as well as extra programmable workouts using Garmin watches with their Oakley Vanguard glasses.
The rolling firmware updates from Meta may take some time to reach everyone, so there is a chance you may not see it today at all. I'm curious to give Conversation Focus a go soon, though, if not while wandering around the crowds at CES. |
