Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Replace Your Phone With Glasses (And He's Been Working on It for 10 Years

Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated Meta's decade-long effort to replace smartphones with holographic glasses, including the Orion prototype with a 70-degree field of view. The glasses aim to combat declining in-person social connection by enabling holographic presence and AI-powered assistance. Zuckerberg argues this technology adds connections rather than replacing physical interaction.

Here is my best article: “AI Under Trump’s Control: Can France Still Avoid Digital Dependence?” https://thenewassociationwebmasters.blogspot.com/2026/06/ai-under-american-control-can-france.html "10 years of work, right there." That's how Mark Zuckerberg greeted me as he placed a pair of glasses on the table. They look like any stylish frame. But inside, there's literally a holographic computer. A member of his team calls them "the real-life Tony Stark glasses." And honestly, once you see them, you understand why. What You Need to Understand First Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp are building what they believe will be the next major computing platform after the phone. Not a headset. Not a tablet. Glasses. Glasses that project holograms into the real world. Glasses that let you feel "present" with someone on the other side of the planet. Glasses that see what you see, hear what you hear, and could become your personal AI-powered assistant. It sounds like science fiction. But I tried them. And it's real. The Problem Zuckerberg Wants to Solve That Affects All of Us Zuckerberg cited a statistic that stuck with me: «"The average American has fewer friends today than they did 15 years ago."» And the numbers are even more striking: - Time spent socializing in person has dropped by 30% among American adults. - For ages 15 to 24, it's nearly 70%. - The number of people who say they have no close friends has jumped from 3% to 12% in 30 years. His argument is simple: people want more connection, not less. But life has gotten more complicated. Families are spread out. Schedules are packed. What if technology could fix that, instead of making it worse? «"It's not that people spend more time online and less time with friends. It's that they already don't have as much connection as they'd like. Giving people the ability to be present with loved ones who are far away — that's a gain, not a loss."» The Glasses That Change Everything That Almost No One Has Seen Meta has developed three product lines that will coexist: Product| What It Is| Who It's For Ray-Ban Meta| Display-less glasses with camera, mic, and built-in AI| Everyone already on sale Orion| Full holographic glasses with a 70° field of view| The future current prototype Quest 3S| Mixed reality headset at $299| Gamers and enthusiasts What's interesting is that Zuckerberg doesn't see these products as competing. He sees them as different answers to different needs. The Ray-Ban Metas, for example, are affordable and stylish. They have no display, but you can talk to them, they talk back, and they translate in real time. Orion, on the other hand, is the "holy grail" : glasses that project holograms. I tried a ping-pong demo. At the end, I placed my paddle on the virtual table. It shattered. That's the kind of detail that shows how powerful the illusion really is. Why Holograms Matter More Than Video Zuckerberg keeps coming back to one word: Presence. Today, when you video call someone, you see them, but you don't feel like they're there. With holograms, that changes. You can: - Play chess with someone on the other side of the world. - Work together on a project as if you're in the same room. - See the person life-sized, not on a screen. «"It's not about replacing physical connection. It's about adding connections that don't exist today."» Of course, there are limits. Touch, for example, is hard to replicate. «"I want to hug my mom. And yeah, haptics is hard."» But Zuckerberg believes we can already do a lot with hands, voice, and eye contact. And the rest will come with time. AI: Between Powerful Tool and Legitimate Fear Zuckerberg sees two big directions for AI at Meta: 1. Personalized AI An assistant that knows you, understands your context, and helps you daily. 2. AI in Glasses A system that sees what you see and hears what you hear. On paper, it's convenient. But it raises questions. The Education Dilemma Zuckerberg admitted he still wonders how to educate his kids in a world where AI can do almost everything. «"Should we still teach coding? In my opinion, yes. Because coding teaches you to think rigorously. Even if AI writes the code, that reasoning ability is valuable."» And what about languages? «"With real-time translation, is it still useful to learn a language? Maybe not, functionally. But you also learn a culture, a way of thinking. It's a choice."» The "AI Influencer" Specter Zuckerberg imagines a future where every creator has their own AI assistant that interacts with their community in their absence. «"A creator can't respond to everyone. With an AI trained on their content, their community can interact with them even when they're asleep."» He's careful to clarify: this isn't the creator themselves. It's a digital artifact, like an interactive sculpture. Open Source vs. Closed: The Debate That Will Define Our Future Zuckerberg is a strong advocate for open source. Here's why: «"Some companies OpenAI, Google want one centralized, closed model. I believe we'll have thousands of AIs, just like we have thousands of apps."» On security, he flips the argument: «"Many think a closed model is safer. But historically, open source is more secure because more people scrutinize the code, find flaws, and fix them."» And he adds a strategic point: «"In a world where AI gets smarter and smarter, I'd rather it be in many people's hands than in one company's."» The Big Question That Keeps Him Up at Night I asked him: «"What's the biggest open question on your mind right now?"» His answer is technical, but its implications are enormous. «"With current AI architectures, we haven't found the limit yet. We can train models on 10,000 chips, then 100,000, then a million. But how far does that go? Will we hit a wall, or will it keep progressing for 20 years?"» This is a hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars question. Meta is investing massive amounts in infrastructure. If AI keeps advancing, those investments pay off. If it stalls, that's a huge risk. But Zuckerberg is betting on progress. What This Means for You and Me I started this conversation with some skepticism. Zuckerberg is a polarizing figure, and Meta has a complicated reputation. But on some points, he convinced me: - The need for connection is real. - Open source is a valuable principle. - Glasses are a natural evolution beyond smartphones. Of course, there are legitimate concerns: - Privacy, with cameras that see everything. - Dependency on technology that knows everything about us. - Impact on jobs and human skills. Zuckerberg's response is a form of pragmatic optimism: «"What matters is staying curious. The world has already changed a lot in 15 years. The future will be different, but there will always be opportunities for those who engage with it."» Summary Topic| What Zuckerberg Imagines AR Glasses| The next platform after phones Holograms| A sense of presence like never before Personalized AI| An assistant that knows and helps you Open Source| A more diverse and safer future Education| Learning to think remains essential The Last Line That Stuck With Me At the end of the interview, I asked if he had anything else to say. He smiled, looking a little tired, and said: «"No, I think we covered it."» He was right. But I had the feeling we'd only scratched the surface of what's coming. Zuckerberg's future might be closer than we think. And it looks like a pair of glasses. Disclaimer This article is based on an exclusive interview with Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta. For more content on the technologies shaping our future, check out the Huge Conversations series.