Smart glasses have come a long way since the failed launch of Google Glass just over 10 years ago. Right now, the shining star among smart glasses is the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses a well-performing pair that nearly earned a perfect score from Laptop Mag.
These top-notch smart glasses just got even better, thanks to Meta's v11 software update, rolled out on Monday. With this update, Ray-Ban Meta glasses gained a feature first announced at Connect 2024: live translation.
The live translation feature will allow Ray-Ban Meta glasses to "translate speech in real time between English and either Spanish, French, or Italian." The wearer will be able to both hear what they're saying through the glasses' speakers and see what they're saying via a transcript on a connected phone.
Right now, live translation only supports the languages mentioned above, but as with many newly introduced features, it will likely gain more supported languages as time goes on. If you want to test out the live translation feature for yourself, here's how to do it.
How to use the live translation feature on Ray-Ban Meta glasses
In order to test out the live translation feature on your Ray-Ban Meta glasses, you'll first need to be enrolled as an Early Access Program member, which is currently reserved for US- and Canada-based users.
Then, you'll need to update your glasses to the newest v11 firmware and make sure the Meta View app is fully updated as well. If you don't see an update for either your glasses or your app, it's possible the gradual rollout may not have reached you just yet. Give it a day or two, and check again.
Once you've downloaded and installed all updates, head to your Meta View app, tap the settings gear icon in the bottom right, and select Live translation from the menu.
Download the language pairing you need, choosing between any combination of English, Spanish, French, and Italian. For the purposes of this short how-to, we'll use the "They Speak: Spanish and You Speak: English" language pairing as our example.
After the languages are installed on your glasses, there are two ways to start using live translation. You can open the Meta View app, find Live translation in settings, and tap Start. Or, you can simply say, "Hey Meta, start live translation." When you hear a chime, you'll know live translation has started.
As you're chatting with someone speaking Spanish, you'll automatically hear live translation to English in your ear. You can also take a look at the visual transcript in Meta View to help make sure you're not missing anything important.
To stop, you can either say "Hey Meta, stop," or tap Stop in the Meta View app.
The most widely used scenario this feature will be helpful in is facilitating conversations while traveling between you and local residents who speak Spanish, French, or Italian, or even between you and a close friend or family member who have a bit of a language barrier.
However, it could also improve the language learning experience for English speakers wanting to learn Spanish, French, Italian, or any future languages Meta adds support for.
The v11 firmware update also brings two other features to Ray-Ban Meta glasses to test: live AI and Shazam integration. Meta also teases additional updates slated for 2025 and "maybe some surprises."
