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Apple is working on at least four different styles of AI glasses that could be its next big product, according to a new report.

The company is building eyewear that includes sensors such as a camera and a microphone, and will work in collaboration with the iPhone and its other devices.

The launch would see it compete with Meta’s glasses, which it makes in collaboration with Ray-Ban, and come in a range of different styles. Apple hopes that its high-end design will allow it to compete with those glasses, according to the new report from Bloomberg.

Those designs could include a large rectangular frame, similar to Ray-Ban’s wayfarers, a slimmer design that is similar to those worn by Tim Cook, as well as other larger and smaller oval and circular designs, Bloomberg reported.

The glasses are rumoured to cameras, microphones, and other sensors as well as speakers that could let their users listen to music. They will be used to take pictures and listen to phone calls, similar to the features offered by Meta.

But it could also bring in Apple’s AI, allowing it to use the sensors to better understand the world. Meta has positioned its glasses as being focused around AI, allowing them to be used to ask questions about things its owner is seeing, for instance.

Apple is also rumoured to be working on other glasses that include a display that would overlay information on the real world, perhaps as a slimmer version of its Vision Pro headset. Meta has also pursued a strategy of launching lighter glasses with sensors as well as augmented reality headsets, with a view to bring them both together in a slim design that includes most of the technology.

Apple’s version is rumoured to be working towards a release next year.

The launch would come at a contested time for such smart glasses. Technology companies have positioned them as a futuristic way of capturing and engaging with the real world – but critics have said that they allow people to film others without their consent, as well as allowing tech to encroach on the real world more generally.

Apple’s glasses are said to include lights that will show the status of the glasses to people outside. Meta’s glasses have a small light that glows when they are being used as a camera.