When I walked into Target on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, the last thing I expected to find was a fancy new pair of smart glasses. First of all, functional smart glasses have not exactly been advertised recently, and many people don’t even know they exist. Second, Target? Although it offers a decent variety of popular tech products, the well-known retailer is not exactly known for its advanced technology.

But sure enough, there stood the new Ray-Ban x Meta smart glasses in all their glory. On full display in the optical department, there were even try-on prototypes at every desk, for customers to explore and tinker with. After a quick Google search, it became clear why these glasses were being sold at Target. In addition to plain old marketing strategy, the reason lies in ownership. EssilorLuxottica, a major brand that owns over 150 other brands, 20 of them eyewear, owns both Ray-Ban and Target Optical. 

The glasses come in two different designs and seven colors – although the seven colors include different-colored lenses, not just different-colored frames. Sunglasses are also available. They last up to four hours without charge, and you can charge them by simply putting them back in their case (which you also have to charge separately). With these glasses on, you can take pictures, record videos, livestream to various social media, listen to music, make calls, and send texts. With the audio component, no one around you can hear what you’re listening to, and the audio quality has, so far, yielded nothing but good reviews. The smart glasses sell for $299 at Target and $379 on the Ray-Ban website. This price does not account for prescription, which does come at a greater but undefined cost.

What distinguishes these smart glasses from their predecessor, the Ray-Ban Stories released in 2021, is the addition of artificial intelligence – more specifically, Meta AI. Meta AI is just what it sounds like – Meta’s new AI tool. It is still under development, which accounts for some of the discrepancies in what the AI feature of the glasses can do, but for the most part the tool is similar to other AI models on the market. 

So next time you go to Target, make sure to stop by the optical department. You just might be surprised by what you find.