Inside Meta’s $800 AR Glasses: Waveguides, Secrets, and Surprises

We may be a step closer to the end of the smartphone. Look away parents, this is as close as we’ll ever get to a screen without it actually being inside our eyeballs.

Meet the Meta RayBan Display glasses. They take all the features of the previous generation Meta smartglasses—open-ear beamforming audio, Meta’s baked-in AI assistant, and picture and video recording—and cram in a display overlay to bring a full AR experience.

But what about replacing the batteries in these $800 glasses? Can you change a dead speaker or swap in a fresh lens if you scratch them? No, no, and no are the short answers. But this is bleeding edge tech, and we’re itching to see how it works and throw down the gauntlet for more repairable wearables of the future.

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A big thanks to Lumafield for their amazing CT scans: https://www.lumafield.com/

Chapters
0:00 – The End of the Smartphone?
0:09 – Meet the Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses
0:24 – Meta Ray-Ban Display Design Evolution & Features
0:47 – Meta Ray-Ban Display: Real-World AR Use Cases
0:53 – Meta Ray-Ban Display Repairability Problem
1:18 – Meta Ray-Ban Display Teardown: Opening the Frame
2:32 – Meta Ray-Ban Display Battery Removal & Specs
3:14 – Meta Ray-Ban Display Processor Arm & Snapdragon AR1
4:11 – Breaking Into the Meta Ray-Ban Display Waveguide Assembly
4:46 – Meta Ray-Ban Display Camera Secrets Revealed
5:04 – Meta Ray-Ban Display Waveguide & Projector Explained
5:32 – Expert Insight: How Meta Ray-Ban Display AR Works
6:10 – Inside the Meta Ray-Ban Display LCOS System
6:51 – Next-Gen Meta Ray-Ban Display Glassmaking Technology
7:52 – Geometric vs. Diffractive Waveguides in Meta Ray-Ban Display
8:42 – What’s Next for Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses?
9:15 – Meta Ray-Ban Display: Repairability vs. Innovation

Video Credit:

How Does an LCD Screen Work? (1.1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZacFDPW_34

Max Cooper - Music of the Tides - Official Video by Ben Outram
https://vimeo.com/266652990

The orderly beauty of liquid crystals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPefMCvN60

Principles of DigiLens Waveguides
https://youtu.be/aZum_COPUek?si=7QgsjPpg6uhPRXlH&t

Lumus Manufacturing Partnerships
https://youtu.be/a3A47DavUPM?si=NFnaK7OCrwPd6xSH&t

Building the foundation for an AR | MR | XR revolution 👓 | The pioneering story of Lumus & SCHOTT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ZbNUPfgxE

We Tried Meta's Orion AR Glasses!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-iIE07VS3o

I Tried Real Augmented Reality Glasses!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0eKzU_fV00

The WILDEST Tech I’ve Ever Tried - Meta Orion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGO0f1Krp4Y

JigSpace for Apple Vision Pro
https://youtu.be/Cw9_Ywnsdcw?si=sbewUQUMHiLq1Whg&t=21

This teardown is not a repair guide. To repair your Meta Ray-Ban Display, use the service manual at iFixit.com.
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