Meta’s annual Connect event has always been a stage for big hardware announcements, but this year, the focus is going to be on the new smart glasses, internally codenamed “Hypernova,” likely to hit shelves as “Celeste”. These are not the Ray-Ban Meta shades you might have seen trickling across Instagram feeds or in demo videos since 2023. Celeste introduces something bolder: a built-in, right-lens display for notifications and simple on-screen info. Expected price? ?60,000 ($800). That’s a leap from Meta’s earlier wearables and something that brings the joys of sci-fi to reality, but is this concept something you need to be shelling out your month’s salary for, or should you wait for while to see how it all pans out? Let’s talk about it –
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The Meta Celeste seems to be more of a statement from Meta
Meta doesn’t want the Celeste wearable to be your next set of average music sunglasses. It wants this device to be the bridge between today’s smartphone-tethered AI and an always-available superintelligent assistant, visible at a glance. The company is opening up its developer platform so these glasses can run real apps, not just fetch voice commands. That’s huge if you have ever dreamt of glancing at your wearable to check messages, map routes, or even get translation help without touching a phone.
What technology drives the Celeste smartglasses?
Celeste goes beyond camera and speaker features, so consumers can expect a single-lens, micro-display designed for light, glanceable info. Not immersive AR, but probably just enough to make directions or reminders an everyday habit. Meta’s not stopping there: alongside Celeste, they’re rolling out a neural wristband controller. This lets you scroll and interact with the glasses using tiny electrical signals from your hand muscles. It’s tech straight from sci-fi, and while not yet flawless, it points to where human-computer interaction is headed.
This is a BIG gamble by Meta
Meta has spent over $60 billion since 2020 on AR and AI hardware, hoping to leapfrog Apple and Google in the race for the next “must-have” device. But tech history is littered with ambitious hardware that failed to win over everyday users (remember Google Glass?). Meta’s own Ray-Ban partnership is one of the only bright spots in a tough wearables market, and the jury’s still out on whether consumers are ready for eyewear that does more than protect from the sun, not to mention the extra hassle of catering to people who need their lens tailored to their eye powers. Even today, people still need a compelling reason to spend laptop-esque prices on eyewear, no matter how advanced they may be, and that is why I think this whole Ray-Ban Meta lineup is more of an ambitious gamble. They don’t need it to just work, they need it to sell like hot cakes to really get that win.
Are you the audience?
Let’s be honest: Celeste’s reported $800 price makes it a tough sell for anyone who isn’t a hardcore tech enthusiast or developer. Meta’s earlier Ray-Ban smart glasses started under $299 and sold millions, but even with a display, it’s not clear if that heady price, or the “chunky” design needed for all those electronics, is going to pull in the average consumer. Even Meta seems to know this, reportedly limiting Celeste’s first run to about 150,000 units. Their bet? Early adopters and developers will lay the groundwork for a real AR ecosystem, even if sales start slow.
So, if I was to guess, I believe the Celeste is very much akin to what Apple did with the Vision Pro. They knew that the device will not get the big sales, but the real enthusiasts will pick it up and the feedback they receice from these bracket of users will help them develop a future iteration that will be more aggressively priced and something that the average consumer will be more likely to pick up.
For now, Celeste is a risky overture. Its success won’t be measured in units sold this year, but in how fast it pulls the future forward.
