Facebook chief scientist says 'true AR glasses' at least five years away

It also announced a research project, Project Aria, to collect data that would support the development of more advanced glasses down the road.

Michael Abrash, who heads Facebook Reality Labs Research, said fully interactive display and audio capabilities could not yet be crammed into lightweight devices like glasses, which he estimated should be around 70 grams to be viable.

Many in the industry believe the glasses will eventually replace the functionality of mobile phones altogether, making their development a hotly contested race among tech giants like Apple, Amazon and Alphabets Google.

Abrash said smart glasses would need to rely on devices like phones for the forseeable future due to constraints like battery life and the heat generated by processing.

But with true AR glasses, he said, other devices would become an accessory to the glasses, because the glasses are how you see and interact with the world.