At the annual Meta Connect event this week, Mark Zuckerberg has set the tech giant's sights firmly on the Metaverse with the launch of its latest AR glasses tech and the latest Quest mixed reality headset, along with expanded generative AI tools.

The new Orion glasses will provide a 70-degree field of view and an input system that combines voice, eye gaze, and hand tracking. Currently being tested by Meta employees and select external audiences, Orion is expected to be shipped to consumers in the near future.

The product's immersive use-cases will include large multi-tasking windows, holograms of lifesize people, and immersive big-screen entertainment. Orion’s input system seamlessly combines voice, eye gaze, and hand tracking with an EMG wristband that allows users to swipe, click, and scroll.

Meta also unveiled Quest 3S, a new headset with high-resolution full-colour mixed reality capabilities. Available for pre-order from September 25, the headset will be in stores from October 15.

The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are also set to receive AI improvements over the next few months, including reminders, QR code scanning, live language translation, and integrations with Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, and iHeart.

Meanwhile, the company revealed its Llama AI solution had been adopted by over 400 million people, with 185 million using it across Meta's products each week. Llama can now see and speak and is available on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. The company has released the new open-source Llama 3.2 models, which understand both images and text. Smaller, more efficient models that can run on edge and mobile devices are also being released.

Elsewhere, Meta is expanding regionally in English to businesses using click-to-messaging ads on WhatsApp and Messenger. The company's generative AI ad creative tools have been adopted by over 1 million advertisers, with more than 15 million ads created using the tools last month. Ad campaigns using Meta’s generative AI ad features resulted in an 11% higher click-through-rate and 7.6% higher conversion rate compared to campaigns that didn’t use the features.