Meta’s AI glasses can now help you with your hearing problem

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Meta would like your glasses to do more than just sit on your face and judge your outfit choices. 

Meta announced a software update for its AI-powered smart glasses that promises to make conversations clearer in noisy places, and, just for fun, let your eyeballs DJ your music.

The update is rolling out first to Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta HSTN glasses in the US and Canada. 

The headline feature is something Meta calls “conversation focus,” which sounds like mindfulness advice but is actually an audio boost for real life. 

If you’re trying to hear your friend over the roar of a packed bar, a clattering restaurant, or a commuter train that sounds like it’s actively falling apart, the glasses can amplify the voice of the person in front of you.

This feature was first teased earlier this year at Meta Connect, and now it’s finally arriving. 

Using the glasses’ open-ear speakers, wearers can dial up or down how much help they want, either by swiping the right temple of the glasses or tweaking settings in the app. 

The idea is to fine-tune your hearing without shouting “WHAT?” every 30 seconds.

Then there’s the more whimsical update: music that reacts to what you’re looking at. 

The glasses now integrate with Spotify, meaning you can glance at an album cover and immediately hear a song by that artist. 

Stare at your Christmas tree buried under gifts? Boom, holiday music. Is it necessary? 

Absolutely not. Is it a preview of Meta’s vision for connecting sight, context, and apps? Definitely.

Of course, Meta isn’t alone in treating wearables like unofficial hearing helpers. 

Apple AirPods already offer Conversation Boost, and newer Pro models even flirt with clinical-grade hearing aid features. 

Whether Meta’s version works as smoothly as promised remains to be seen.

The conversation-focused feature is limited to the US and Canada for now, but the Spotify trick is launching in English across a long list of countries. 

The update (version 21) is hitting Meta’s Early Access Program first, with a wider rollout later, assuming your glasses make the cut.