Meta Unveils AR Glasses with Heart Rate Monitoring & Navigation. Meta has announced the release of its next-generation AR glasses, Aria Gen 2, designed primarily for research purposes. These new glasses come with advanced features, including the ability to measure heart rate and assist the blind with navigation through sound.

The Aria Gen 2 builds on the original Aria AR glasses released in 2020, introducing several upgrades. Notably, it comes equipped with an RGB camera, eye-tracking sensors, spatial microphones, and a barometer. Additionally, the glasses offer hand tracking and a 6 Degrees of Freedom (6DOF) Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) camera, which allows the glasses to track positions and orientations in a 3D space.

One of the standouts features of the Aria Gen 2 glasses is the addition of two new sensors embedded in the nosepad: a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor for monitoring heart rate and a contact microphone that can distinguish the wearer’s voice from surrounding noises. The glasses also weigh 75 grams (2.6 ounces) and feature open-ear force-cancelling speakers for spatial audio, enhancing the user’s ability to interact with their environment.

Meta’s focus with the Aria Gen 2 is to provide researchers with a powerful tool to explore AI and machine perception. The glasses are being used to assist blind and low-vision individuals, helping them navigate indoor environments. A video demonstration showed a user navigating a store and being guided by sound cues to locate specific items, like apples, based on their surroundings.

While these glasses are not yet available to the public, Meta’s announcement hints at the potential future of AR glasses. The advanced features, such as heart rate monitoring, hand and eye tracking, and spatial audio, suggest that consumer-facing AR glasses could soon offer practical applications in everyday life, such as health monitoring and navigation assistance.

Meta is currently making the Aria Gen 2 available to academic researchers, with plans for wider use in the coming months. However, it’s expected that consumer versions with similar features could eventually be released, as Meta continues its push into the mixed-reality space.