Best Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses update yet adds Live AI tools in early access

The Ray-Ban Meta glasses just got new Live AI in Early AccessShazam music recognition is here tooAll new features are only available in the US and Canada

Meta is rounding out the year with a major update to its Ray-Ban smart glasses with two Live features it teased at Meta Connect 2024. It’s also adding Shazam integration to help you find the names of tunes you hear while wearing your specs.

The only downside of the awesome-sounding Live features are that they’re in early access, so expect them to be less reliable than your typical AI tools. They’ll also only be available to Early Access Program members in the US and Canada. You can enroll at Meta’s official site.

But if you are in the Early Access Program you can now try Live AI and Live Translation.

Live AI is like a video version of Look and Ask. Instead of taking a quick snap, your glasses will continually record your view so you can converse with it with about what you can see – or other topics. What’s more, while in a Live AI session you won’t need to say “Hey Meta” over and over again.

Meta adds that “Eventually live AI will, at the right moment, give useful suggestions even before you ask.” So be prepared for the AI to butt in with ideas without you prompting it directly.

The babelfish gets closer

Shazam is coming to your Ray-Ban specs (Image credit: Shazam)

Live Translation is another real-time AI tool. This time it allows the AI to automatically translate between English and either Spanish, French, or Italian.

When you’re speaking to someone who is using one of those three languages you’ll hear what they say in English through the glasses’ open-ear speakers, or see it as a transcript on your phone – and they’ll be able to hear or read a translation of what you’re saying in their language.

Thankfully, the update isn’t all about just early access features.

If you’re out at an end-of-year party and like the sound of a tune you can also ask your glasses “Hey Meta, Shazam this song,” and it will tell you what song is playing via the Shazam music recognition tool.

Unfortunately, while this feature is available more widely it is once again only available in the US and Canada – so folks in the UK and beyond won’t have access to it yet.

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