Meta highlights AI glasses functions for users with disabilities

Meta’s artificial intelligence-powered glasses can provide users with disabilities new ways to connect and engage with the world around them. The company is now looking to incorporate more options and functionalities to power expanded assistance through its wearable offerings.

In advance of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 21, Meta shared some upcoming AI glasses updates, as well as an expansion of developer access, all of which is designed to drive expanded usage options for the device.

As per Meta: “More than one billion people around the world live with some form of disability, and we’ve seen how our wearable AI is making a real difference for many of them — from enabling people who are blind to describe their surroundings to giving veterans with memory loss more confidence in daily routines.”

Building on this, Meta is rolling out new features that will provide more support for disabled users, including adding video call support designed for users who are blind or who have low vision.

Meta is also adding the capacity to connect with specially trained support representatives from global brands such as Tesco, Sony, Amtrak and Hilton, who can provide visual descriptions and hands-on assistance with tasks.

In addition, Meta is adding voice controls for calls on WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, including controls within the call itself.

AI glasses wearers will also soon be able to customize the action button on Ray-Ban Meta Optics styles or Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses for instant access to the features they use most. “Whether that’s connecting to a Be My Eyes volunteer or asking a Meta AI prompt like ‘describe what’s around me.’ A single press replaces multi-step voice commands, putting AI a fingertip away,” Meta said.

Meta also launched real-time captions during phone, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct voice calls on Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, which display what the other person is saying on the in-lens display screen.

In addition to these functional updates, Meta opened up its third-party research and development opportunities to more researchers to power further development of its support options.

“Our Device Access Toolkit gives developers a way to extend their mobile apps onto our AI glasses — and some of the first experiences are designed to help people with disabilities navigate daily life with more independence,” Meta said.

Meta is also working with Carnegie Mellon University to explore how electromyography — the technology that powers its Neural Band control device — can give people with spinal cord injuries new ways to interact with digital devices.

“The neural band detects subtle muscle signals in the forearm, even in people who have been paralyzed for many years, and translates them into actions like clicking, scrolling, or even steering in a video game,” Meta said.

In combination, these various initiatives could lead to new use cases for Meta’s wearable tech, expanding the utility of the device beyond being an expansion of Meta’s social networking tools into a new arena.

This could increase the value of the device, and make it a more functional, valuable tool for many more people.