Meta’s Chris Cox Highlights Smart Glasses as the Future of Computing

Meta’s Chris Cox Positions Smart Glasses as the Future of Computing

Meta’s Chief Product Officer, Chris Cox, emphasized on Thursday that smart glasses represent the forthcoming evolution in computing devices. Speaking with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin, Cox explained that future interactions with computers will become more natural, involving voice, vision, and gesture-based controls similar to human communication.

Meta recently introduced the Ray-Ban Display glasses, priced at $799, which incorporate a small in-lens display operated via hand gestures detected by a neural wristband. These glasses enable users to record videos and send messages either by voice commands or handwriting gestures performed on their knee.

“We’ve started with just the basics, which is messaging, which we know is the thing people want to do in a more fluid way,” Cox said, highlighting the initial focus on seamless communication.

Unlike Meta’s earlier Ray-Ban smart glasses, which were audio-only, the new Display model provides visual feedback, allowing users to view messages and watch videos directly through the lenses.

During a demonstration, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg experienced a technical glitch when attempting to answer a video call from Meta tech chief Andrew Bosworth, as the accept button failed to appear on the glasses’ display.

Strong Sales and Growing Competition

Meta’s partnership with EssilorLuxottica has already seen success with previous smart glasses iterations. EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri reported in February that two million units had been sold since the launch of their second-generation Meta Ray-Ban glasses collaboration in 2023. The company’s second-quarter earnings indicated that revenue from Ray-Ban Meta glasses more than tripled year-over-year during the first half of 2025.

The popularity of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, alongside the recently launched Oakley Meta Performance AI glasses, contributed to EssilorLuxottica’s strong Q2 sales of 7.2 billion euros ($8.5 billion).

Despite these gains, the smart glasses market is becoming increasingly competitive. Google announced a $150 million partnership with Warby Parker in May to develop AI-enhanced glasses. Snap Inc. plans to release its sixth generation of augmented reality glasses in 2026. Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly preparing to launch its own smart glasses by the end of next year.

As Meta continues to push forward with smart glasses technology, the industry will closely watch how consumer adoption evolves amid rising competition and technological challenges.