*

Meta's new glasses may feature Prada branding, $800 price

may

deter buyers

*

Meta faces scrutiny over child safety on social media

platforms

*

Meta lags rivals in AI models, but is ahead in smart

glasses

By Aditya Soni and Echo Wang

MENLO PARK, California, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Meta on

Wednesday launched $499 Oakley-branded smart glasses for

athletes that come with a centered action camera, louder

speakers and better water resistance, expanding its wearables

beyond the Ray-Ban line that has been an early AI-era hit.

Dubbed Oakley Meta Vanguard, the glasses integrate with

Meta's AI app and fitness platforms such as Garmin and Strava to

deliver real-time training stats and post-workout summaries.

They will come with nine hours of battery life and roll out

first in countries such as the U.S. and Canada starting Oct. 21.

The device was unveiled at Meta's annual Connect

conference, where the company is also expected to launch its

first consumer-ready smart glasses with a built-in display.

Those glasses will likely be named Celeste and be paired with

Meta's first wristband for hand-gesture controls, but their

expected $800 price may dissuade some buyers, analysts said.

CNBC has reported the glasses could feature Prada branding. CEO

Mark Zuckerberg walked on stage appearing to wear a pair, but

put them away immediately.

Celeste is expected to include a small digital display in

the right lens for basic tasks such as notifications. It will

also offer features available on its existing Ray-Ban and Oakley

smart glasses such as an AI assistant, cameras, hands-free

control and livestreaming to its social media platforms.

They mark Meta's latest bid to stay relevant in the AI race,

where it trails rivals such as OpenAI and Google in rolling out

advanced models. Zuckerberg kicked off a billion-dollar talent

war earlier this year to poach engineers from rivals and has

promised to spend tens of billions of dollars on AI chips.

The launch at Meta's annual Connect conference, held at its

Menlo Park, California headquarters, comes amid scrutiny over

Meta's handling of child safety on its social media

platforms.

Reuters reported in August that Meta chatbots engaged

children in provocative conversations about sex and race, while

whistleblowers said earlier this month researchers were told not

to study harms of virtual reality to children.

For Zuckerberg, whose massive bet on the metaverse has so

far generated tens of billions of dollars in losses, smart

glasses are the ideal device for superintelligence - a concept

where AI surpasses human intelligence in every possible way.

While experts and executives disagree on whether and when

superintelligence can be achieved, analysts said Meta's new

glasses are a step toward the planned 2027 launch of its "Orion"

prototype, unveiled last year and described by Zuckerberg as

"the time machine to the future."

"It wasn't long ago that consumers were introduced to AI on

glasses and in recent quarters brands have also begun to include

displays, enabling new use cases," said Jitesh Ubrani, research

manager for IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

"However, consumer awareness and product availability of AI

glasses with display remains limited. This will change as Meta,

Google, and others launch products in the next 18 months."

IDC forecasts worldwide shipments of augmented reality/

virtual reality headsets and display-less smart glasses will

grow 39.2% in 2025 to 14.3 million units, with Meta driving much

of the growth thanks to demand for the Ray-Bans it makes with

EssilorLuxottica.