Meta Ray-Ban Display debuts at $799 in-store Best Buy demos

Meta and Ray-Ban on Tuesday began selling the Meta Ray-Ban Display, a $799 pair of AI-enhanced smart glasses that are available in the United States only through in-store demos at Best Buy, the companies said. Appointments to try and buy the glasses opened Sept. 30, and Meta said demand has been high, writing in a company blog post that interest is "off the charts" and that units had sold out in nearly every store that received stock.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display combines a monocular, in-lens full-color display built into the right lens with a separate Meta Neural Band, a wrist-worn controller that uses electromyography sensors to translate subtle muscle signals into gesture commands. The display, which manufacturers describe as 600 by 600 pixels, is visible only to the wearer and can show navigation, notifications, a camera viewfinder and other app content. The Neural Band lets wearers execute actions such as taking photos, checking messages and controlling audio with discreet hand and wrist movements.

Hardware features include a 12-megapixel camera with 3X zoom and a viewfinder visible in the in-lens display so users can frame and review shots without opening a phone. Audio comes...