Meta today announced that it is rolling out a new live translation feature to all Ray-Ban Meta glasses users, providing wide access to functionality that was previously only available to early access users in a beta capacity.
Live translation supports English, French, Italian, and Spanish, allowing users to translate between those languages in real-time while having a conversation. As long as a particular language pack has been downloaded in advance, no Wi-Fi or cellular connection is required to use the feature.
When you're speaking to someone in one of those languages, you'll hear what they say in your preferred language through the glasses in real time, and they can view a translated transcript of the conversation on your phone. To get started, just say, "Hey Meta, start live translation."
Live translate will translate what the person speaking in another language is saying, while responses can be seen on a connected smartphone.
In the near future, Meta plans to introduce live AI, a feature where the Meta smart glasses can see whatever the wearer sees through the built-in camera, allowing for real-time AI conversations.
Meta says the glasses will be able to provide hands-free help with meal prep, gardening, exploring, and more. Questions can be asked without the need to say a wake word, and the AI can understand context between requests for referencing prior queries.
Meta's smart glasses should be of interest to Apple users because they provide some insight into what we might see from Apple in the future. Rumors suggest that Apple is considering developing smart glasses that are similar to Meta's Ray-Bans. Apple glasses could feature AI, microphones, and cameras, though there wouldn't be augmented reality capabilities.
