META held its annual META Connect event on Wednesday at its Menlo Park campus. In addition to the event’s hero device, the Orion AR glasses, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced that WhatsApp users can now interact with Meta AI in real-time, hands-free, using voice commands. The feature also includes the ability to choose a meta AI voice based on a celebrity or public figure. The feature will initially be available in English, with plans to expand to other languages ​​over time.

To use this feature, users can now press a waveform button and talk to Meta AI, receiving feedback through voice. Additionally, Meta AI now allows users to send photos for real-time information, such as translating menus or giving tips on plant care. It can also help with photo editing, removing unwanted objects, and adjusting lighting for a more polished look.

Another important update has come for businesses, where selected companies can now integrate AI into WhatsApp Business to handle customer inquiries. The AI ​​will be able to answer questions about business hours, product availability, pricing, and more. This AI-powered feature can also recommend products and answer questions about discounts and shipping, although the AI-generated responses can sometimes contain errors.

These new features are part of Meta’s broader efforts to bring AI into everyday conversations, with voice chat already available to select users on WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, the Orion AR glasses are set to revolutionize the way we interact with the digital world, blending real-world scenes with cutting-edge augmented reality elements. Unlike previous Ray-Ban smart glasses, Orion’s advanced AR capabilities are set to deliver a more immersive and futuristic experience, blurring the line between the physical and digital realms.

These AR glasses use silicon-carbide architecture that enables holographic projections to seamlessly blend into the physical world. Showcasing Orion’s capabilities, Zuckerberg highlighted that these glasses will be equipped with AI voice assistance, hand-tracking, eye-tracking, and even a wrist-based neural interface, allowing users to interact with brain signals. Will be able to control tasks. The introduction of Orion points to a future where these AR glasses could potentially replace smartphones, offering an entirely new way to interact with digital content.

Meta’s vision for the future – through both AI and AR – is clear: a world where technology is seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, enhancing both productivity and creativity in unprecedented ways.