Live Updates From Meta Connect 2026 🔴

Okay, that about does it for me, folks. It’s Thursday at about 8:30 am my time, and I’m gathering all of my things to head to the airport. I’ve still got a lot to marinate on and more to write (stay tuned for my experience with holograms), but Meta making VR glasses the center of the show felt, I don’t know… right.

These puppies are hard to describe, but I do think most people will be impressed if/when they get to try them on for themselves. For now, we wait until Spring 2027! Signing off. —James Pero

That’s it, folks! Zuck came, announced a lot of smart glasses, and then swiftly got off stage. I appreciated the live demos, but I feel like he didn’t bring much energy to the keynote. He was almost too calm. Show us how amped we should be about all this stuff, dude. Anyway, for more details on everything announced, check out James’ write-ups below. —Raymond Wong

Meta VR Glasses: 

Meta Ray-Ban AI Glasses Gen 3: 

Meta Ray-Ban Audio:

Gizmodo senior writer James Pero has been on the scene at Meta HQ all week, and he got the chance to try out the company’s new VR Glasses. Spoiler alert: they’re not perfect, but they’re more interesting to use than he expected. Read the rest of his first impressions below. —Matt Wille

Meta VR Glasses look sick. I have not tried them, but our own James Pero did, and based on his hands-on write-up, they appear to be impressive. They won’t be cheap, though. You’ll have to pony up $1,299 for them, which is almost 4x the price of a Quest 3. At least it’s less than a $3,500 Apple Vision Pro. Meta VR Glasses will ship in Spring 2027. Maybe get a part-time job if you really want them. —Raymond Wong

Welp, I guess there’s a keychain? That one genuinely caught me off guard, and it looks like Muse Charm is just a little keychain with a cute Muse avatar that you can walk around with and do Muse stuff with. Meta says it will ship in time in time for the holidays, but details are scant. —James Pero

Boz said the Meta VR Glasses are the “sexiest VR glasses you’ve ever seen.” So… what say you, dear Gizmodo reader? Did Meta just bring sexy back? lol —Raymond Wong

No more legless video calls: Meta’s new Hologram feature allows for full-body virtual calls. If you want that, for some reason. —Matt Wille

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says, “VR gaming is alive and well,” which feels more convincing now that Meta actually has new VR hardware. You can play all the Quest titles on the Meta VR Glasses, by the way. Beat Saber too, duh. —James Pero

In addition to bragging that Meta VR Glasses is 5x lighter than Meta Quest 3, Zuckerberg also dunked on the Apple Vision Pro saying it was significantly lighter. Shot fired? Mmmhmm. I love it. —Raymond Wong

There’s a little bit of Vision Pro (or a lot) in the Meta VR Glasses. The pinching and the eye tracking, for example. A lot smaller, though, as Zuck pointed out. —James Pero

Yep, Palmer Luckey, the inventor of the Oculus Rift and modern VR, made a cameo for Meta VR Glasses. Luckey, if you recall, was famously fired from Oculus after Meta acquired the company. Meta also got James Cameron, Casey Neistat, and other famous people to react to its compact VR headset. —Raymond Wong

Welp, the rumors were true. Meta VR Glasses are a thing, and they were sitting out the whole time. They’re like a Quest headset smushed into a glasses form factor, but they do have a compute puck to go with them just like Xreal and Google’s Aura glasses. —James Pero

There’s also a new “Ivory” colorway for the Kylie Jenner Meta AI glasses. Along with Lisa, Meta really has roped in some big celebs to shill its AI glasses, hasn’t it? —Raymond Wong

The Meta Ray-Ban Display are finally coming to France, Germany, and the U.K. and you won’t have to go to the store to buy them. It’s about time. —James Pero

Move over, Kylie — Lisa’s the latest collaborator for Meta’s smart glasses. (That’s Lisa from Blackpink.) Hers come with some cool charms, at least. —Matt Wille

If you’ve been looking for more styles of frames for Meta AI glasses, Meta will sell new Capri and Nova styles. —Raymond Wong

There are lots of different styles for Meta’s glasses; it’s almost hard to keep track. Above is Zena and Aviator. There’s also a special edition Aviator pair with mirrored lenses. —James Pero

The new Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 have six microphones for clearer audio, especially in noisy situations.  —Raymond Wong

Meta is getting into audio-only smart glasses. These Ray-Ban Clubmaster frames don’t have any cameras. —Raymond Wong

Meta is leaning into accessibility with a new hearing-assist feature for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. It’ll cost you $150, though, which they didn’t mention in the keynote. —James Pero

Private processing is interesting. It’s a feature that is already available on WhatsApp and is supposed to secure the data you transmit to the cloud, which, on AI glasses, is almost everything. Meta doesn’t know which features this will apply to, though, so I guess we’ll have to see just how significant it is. —James Pero

Naturally, Meta is making Muse more agentic so that you can actually do stuff with it, like asking it to do a project for work or, I don’t know… they didn’t really show many examples. —James Pero

Here they come, folks. Lots of AI glasses. —James Pero

Alexandr Wang is talking up using agents for shopping… and I just don’t care. Shopping shouldn’t be a chore. It should be fun. It should make you excited about the sh*t that you’re gonna buy. Muse sucking the fun out of the whole task is just depressing IMO. —Raymond Wong

Not sure why I wasn’t expecting AI talk, but this is starting with lots of AI talk, including a big rundown about Muse. And of course, some of it is shopping-related, including partnerships with Walmart and Best Buy. —James Pero

Our first guest star on stage is Alexandr Wang, chief AI officer at Meta. We’re really diving right into AI here today. —Matt Wille

Mark Zuckerberg is out and he’s wearing a T-shirt that says “BUILDING IS MY LOVE LANGUAGE.” Oh, so not physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, physical touch, or quality time then? Guess not. —Raymond Wong

Straight into a live demo is a choice. Even for the almighty Zuck. Also mentioning “superintelligence” right off the bat. —James Pero

It’s 7 p.m. ET here in NYC. I’ve had a very long day. This Meta Connect keynote better be damn good. If Zuckerberg doesn’t crush it, we may not do this again next year. Don’t f*ck up Zuck. —Raymond Wong

Alright, time to connect. Make a connection. Establish a connection. Ship off to Connecticut. However you want to put it, it’s almost time to get Zuck and Co.’s show on the road. —James Pero 

Meta VR Glasses is an interesting name. It might land better with users than split-compute headset. https://t.co/sXcsCuIjc3

— Wu Xu (@xuwu) September 23, 2026

So, if the name of Meta’s alleged VR glasses is “Meta VR Glasses,” how are we feeling about that? Is that like adopting a cat and naming it “Pet Number One” or “The Cat?” Simple is good, but naming a gadget usually has a little bit more there there. —James Pero

Alright, I’ve entered the final layer of the Meta Connect beast. I am inside the room, waiting for Zuck to appear. How we feeling? I am feeling tired. Very tired. —James Pero

Last year at Connect 2025, Zuck ran off into the sunset with Diplo for some reason. I don’t know how he’s going to top that this year, but I’m open to some guesses. Can’t be another DJ, right? I don’t know if Meta is pulling Kylie Jenner for some PR, but maybe? I’m pulling for Slovenian pop philosopher Slavoj Žižek. Yeah, that’s it. Definitely Slavoj. —James Pero

First look at Meta’s Phoenix headset.

I wonder if they’ll open preorders today! pic.twitter.com/qWO4EuN0WS

— Matthew Dowd (@thedowd) September 23, 2026

Someone call a plumber. For real. —James Pero

Are jokes about Sweet Baby Ray’s still funny? I was going to make one, but like… do people still remember that? Is it just me? Have I been doing this for too long? —James Pero

NEW:

"Meta VR Glasses" has been trademarked in the EU, and specifically describes:

"Virtual reality computer hardware systems comprised of glasses-shaped head-mounted video displays tethered to portable computing and processing units" https://t.co/GznjDRt4ws pic.twitter.com/JrYlleDBLz

— Luna (@Lunayian) September 23, 2026

A lot of stuff is going on right now, but I’ve had a chance to keep up with the rumors. Looks like Meta trademarked something in the U.K. that could be of interest tonight. —James Pero

Well, this has been a whirlwind. I promise you I’m still here, but boy, have I been busy. I got to sample some stuff you’re about to see, but for now I’m just… waiting to get in to the keynote, which starts at 4 pm PT (7 pm ET). —James Pero

The badge has been acquired. I’ll have my report in the near future that isn’t about a giant burrito. —James Pero

We know smart glasses are most likely going to be in the equation at this conference—that’s Meta’s whole thing as of late—but one question lots of people will have is about VR. Connect used to be all about VR, with the Quest being Meta’s prized piece of hardware. Last year when I attended, VR barely got a nod, but that doesn’t mean this year will be the same.

Sure, VR is in a rough spot now with Meta divesting and leaving some VR game studios out in the cold, but this is a new year with new prospects, so if you’re hoping for some VR action, who knows? Maybe this year you’ll be a little more satisfied, especially with rumors of Project Phoenix swirling. —James Pero

I am en route, folks. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but security at New York City’s JFK airport was bad. I am in the middle seat. Coffee in hand. Two podcasts downloaded and two albums with about 5.5 hours to go. See you on the other coast! — James Pero