Meta CTO Explains Smart Glasses Demo Failures at Connect

Meta CTO Explains Smart Glasses Demo Issues

Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer, addressed the technical difficulties experienced during demonstrations of Meta’s new smart glasses at the recent Meta Connect developer conference via his Instagram account.

New Smart Glasses Unveiled

Meta introduced three new smart glass models on Wednesday. These include an enhanced Ray-Ban Meta, the Meta Ray-Ban Display paired with a wristband controller, and the Oakley Meta Vanguard designed for sports activities.

Live Demo Failures

Several live demonstrations of the technology encountered problems during the event. These issues sparked questions about the reliability of the new devices.

During one demonstration, content creator Jack Mancuso attempted to use voice commands with his Ray-Ban Meta glasses to access a sauce recipe. Despite repeating his request, “What do I do first?”, the glasses failed to respond.

The AI unexpectedly advanced within the recipe, prompting Mancuso to halt the demo. He then suggested to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, that a potential Wi-Fi issue might be to blame.

Another demo faltered when the glasses were unable to establish a live WhatsApp video call between Bosworth and Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg ultimately conceded defeat. Bosworth jokingly attributed the problem to “brutal” Wi-Fi performance.

Zuckerberg acknowledged the unpredictable nature of live demonstrations, stating, “You practice these things like a hundred times, and then you never know what’s gonna happen.”

Root Cause Analysis

Following the event, Bosworth hosted a Q&A session on Instagram to address the demo failures and provide technical explanations.

He clarified that the chef’s glasses issue wasn’t related to Wi-Fi connectivity. Instead, it stemmed from a miscalculation in resource allocation.

“When the chef initiated ‘Hey, Meta, start Live AI,’ it activated Live AI on every Ray-Ban Meta device within the venue,” Bosworth explained. “This wasn’t observed during rehearsals due to the smaller number of devices present.”

This activation, however, wasn’t the sole cause of the disruption. Meta had intentionally routed Live AI traffic to a development server for isolation during the demo. This routing was applied to all devices, including headsets, on the access points.

“Essentially, we initiated a denial-of-service attack on ourselves with that demonstration,” Bosworth stated. (A DDoS attack overwhelms a server with traffic, causing slowdowns or outages. Meta’s server wasn’t prepared for the surge from numerous glasses, anticipating only demo traffic.)

WhatsApp Call Failure Explained

The failed WhatsApp call was attributed to a newly discovered software bug.

The glasses’ display entered sleep mode precisely as the call was incoming. Upon reactivation by Zuckerberg, the notification for the call wasn’t displayed. Bosworth described this as a “race condition” bug, occurring when multiple processes compete for the same resource with unpredictable timing.

“We had never encountered this bug previously,” Bosworth noted. “It was the first instance we’d observed. The issue has now been resolved, and it was an unfortunate timing for its emergence.” He emphasized Meta’s proficiency in handling video calls and expressed disappointment at the bug’s appearance.

Bosworth Remains Optimistic

Despite the setbacks, Bosworth expressed confidence in the product’s capabilities.

“I don’t particularly welcome these issues, but I am certain the product functions as intended and delivers on its promises. It was simply a demonstration failure, not a fundamental product flaw,” he concluded.