Meta may be getting ready to ship a version of smart glasses that drops the camera entirely.
The new model, codenamed Luna, could be unveiled at Meta's Connect event next week, according to The Information. The glasses are reportedly slated to come in two styles, Clubmaster and Burbank, and Meta is targeting an October launch.
Instead of a camera, Luna would reportedly include six microphones and speakers for audio playback. That setup would let users talk to Meta AI and the new Muse AI agent. Removing the camera has also apparently made it possible to shrink the arms of the glasses, bringing them closer to the look of ordinary frames.
That matters because Meta's current smart glasses have become a privacy headache. The company says its frames include a recording LED and that the camera stops working if the light is tampered with. Even so, users have found workarounds, and the glasses have been used to secretly record people. They have also been banned in places ranging from New York courtrooms to Britain's largest pub chain.
Meta's hope is clear: make the hardware look less like a surveillance gadget and more like regular eyewear. The new design could blunt the 'pervert glasses' nickname that has followed the camera-equipped models, while still keeping Meta's AI assistant in the frame. But the tradeoff is obvious. More microphones, a more discreet design, and a device that looks less suspicious do not automatically inspire trust.
The company is also reportedly preparing a separate AR glasses model, codenamed Phoenix, for Connect. That device is said to be capable of bringing up a virtual workspace or movie screen in augmented reality, with release planned for 2027. It follows a similar AR concept device from 2024.
Here's the thing: Meta is not solving the trust problem so much as redesigning around it. Taking the camera out may reduce the most obvious privacy risk, but it also suggests the original product was pushing right up against what a lot of people were willing to tolerate. In a market where wearables are supposed to disappear on your face, the company is finding out that visibility is not just a design issue. It is a reputational one.
And that reputational hit has consequences. When a device meant to sit inches from people's eyes and ears triggers privacy alarms, the burden is on the platform maker, not the public, to prove the gadget is harmless. Meta is trying to ship a softer, friendlier version of the same idea. Whether that is enough is the real benchmark.