Meta unveils its 100-gram VR glasses: IMAX cinema, live sports and a portable workstation for 1,300 dollars

Meta has unveiled Meta VR Glasses, a new virtual reality device that the company describes as the result of more than a decade of work in the field. These are glasses weighing barely 100 grams — roughly the weight of a deck of cards — designed to be worn for hours at a time, something Meta presents as a leap in physical form compared with its previous headsets.

The key to that lightness is a system split into two parts: the glasses themselves, which house the sensors and the display, and a 'puck' or external module connected by an optical cable that handles processing, battery and storage and can be clipped to a pocket or a bag. Thanks to this division of components, Meta says the glasses are five times lighter than Meta Quest 3. The design, open at the sides, and a passthrough camera also let users keep some awareness of their surroundings while wearing them — for example, to watch a full movie or work on a long flight without losing sight of what is happening around them.

On technical specifications, the glasses feature a display called '5K Infinite Display' based on micro-OLED panels, with a density of 37 pixels per degree, which Meta says delivers especially good clarity for text legibility. Ultra-compact pancake lenses, developed specifically for this device, are what make it possible to achieve that image quality in a format similar to conventional glasses. The device has Dolby Vision for color and contrast, and Dolby Atmos spatial audio built directly into the frame. Processing is handled by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Reality Elite chip, which Meta highlights for its performance and efficiency. The puck's battery delivers up to three hours of continuous high-resolution media playback and supports 45W fast charging.

Meta has integrated its Meta AI assistant directly into the device's operating system, so users can interact with the glasses by speaking, with their gaze or with natural hand gestures, without the need for controllers: playing a movie, opening an app, adjusting the workspace or searching for content.

One of the central pillars of the launch is audiovisual entertainment. Meta VR Glasses is, according to the company, the first virtual reality device certified as IMAX Enhanced, which will allow certain films to be watched at home in IMAX's exclusive expanded aspect ratio. Starting in November, Disney+ subscribers in selected countries will be able to watch Marvel Studios titles such as 'The Avengers' or 'Black Panther' in 3D, with immersive themed environments such as Tatooine, the Avengers Tower or the 'Scare Floor'. An app called Disney Immersive Cinema by ILM will also be available, with 'VR Enhanced' versions of films such as 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Star Wars: A New Hope', which transform the viewer's environment with dynamic effects, 3D visuals and spatial audio.

Meta has signed deals with platforms including Prime Video, YouTube, DIRECTV, AMC+, Crunchyroll, Plex, ESPN and Tubi, among others, to offer what the company calls the best media catalog of any VR device. Peacock, HBO Max and Paramount+ will offer their catalogs in 3D for the first time. Meta promises the library will keep growing to thousands of titles available internationally by the time the device goes on sale, including 3D classics from Lionsgate. The company has also announced a collaboration with director James Cameron and his production company Lightstorm Vision to release blockbuster films 'in 3D for the first time' in 2027.

In sports, Meta has worked with ESPN to develop 'Immersive Sports', an experience with front-row views, 8K streaming and 180-degree angles, which will start this year with college football on Meta Quest and will expand to more sports in 2027. When Meta VR Glasses reaches the market, the company expects to offer more than 100 live sporting events a year in immersive format, thanks to deals with MLB, NBC Sports, TNT Sports and UFC.

Beyond entertainment, Meta also presents the device as a next-generation platform for work. The glasses can create one or several large, private screens anywhere, turning any flat surface into a keyboard and trackpad, so users can type without carrying extra hardware. Color passthrough lets them keep seeing their real desk, their phone and their surroundings while they work.

On video games, Meta announces more than 75 titles available at launch that can be played using hand gestures alone, plus access to hundreds of additional games through Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Another new feature is 'Hologram Calling', a hologram technology that generates a photorealistic digital version of the user, including their expressions and reactions in real time, for hands-free video calls. When someone appears as a hologram in the glasses, spatial audio places their voice in the room as if they were physically present; if the other person is joining from a phone or computer, they will see the user's hologram on their screen. The feature works with various video-calling apps, from WhatsApp to Zoom.

Meta VR Glasses will go on sale in spring 2027 at a price of $1,299.99. With this launch, the company cements a strategy that goes beyond gaming or one-off immersive entertainment, explicitly presenting the device as a 'next-generation computing platform' that aims to combine personal cinema, front-row sports and a portable office in a single object the size and weight of a conventional pair of glasses.