With Meta reportedly scaling back its hardware ambitions due to economic pressures, one might not expect Rayban Stories to be in line for a second generation. In particular, the Wall Street Journal reported a year ago that 90% of early adopters of the smart glasses do not use them regularly.

However, Lowpass's Janko Roettgers has long claimed that a second generation is on the way, and has now discovered its listing in the FCC database, suggesting that a launch is imminent.

The listing is by the Luxottica Group and is the same tag as the first generation Ray-Ban Stories listing. This, he writes, "only makes sense if you want to transfer a lot of data."

This is a reference to what an earlier Lowpass report claimed was a major new feature of the smart glasses: according to internal documents confirmed by Roettgers, the second-generation glasses will assist streamers by "voice-communicating comments through the built-in headphones."

In other words, if they are live streaming on Facebook or Instagram, they will be able to listen to viewer feedback and respond in real time. This is a big step up over the original shades, which can capture photos and short video clips but do not offer that kind of live streaming support.

Other previously mentioned "Wall Street Journal" reports stated that the second generation will have improved battery life and an improved camera. Not exactly an unexpected upgrade, but a welcome one.

That report predicted a spring or fall launch next year, but the FCC listing suggests we may see something much earlier than that.

We already know that Meta plans to show off the Quest 3 VR headset at the Connect conference at the end of the month; in July, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth suggested that the company would announce something "fairly soon."

"I love the Ray-Ban Stories we have now," he said in an Instagram AMA. 'What we have in development is even more exciting.'

In our 3.5-star Ray-Ban Stories review, we praised the look and feel, while being a little concerned about how the camera was hidden. However, our own Kate Kozuch found it to be a good companion for family trips, as it allowed her to capture memories in a frictionless way.

"Will the Ray-Ban Stories replace my cell phone for taking photos and videos while on vacation?" she wrote. 'I still need my phone for indoor and nighttime shots. But will I take it on my next vacation? Definitely."