Meta introduces Orion, real brain-powered AR glasses in a small package

Right now Wednesday Meta Connect eventCEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Orion, which he described as “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen.”

Glasses that are noticeably smaller Snap’s recently announced Spectacles 5is real AR. Orion uses small projects built into the temples of the glasses to create a heads-up display—think the 2024 version of Google Glass.

The glasses, which Zuckerberg said were a decade in the making, don’t appear to be too far removed from the concept phase at this point. “These glasses exist, they’re part of a future that I think is going to be wonderful and exciting,” the executive said during the presentation, adding that the team still needs to “fine-tune” them before Meta is ready to turn them into an official consumer product.

In addition to the standard voice alerts, Orion will be controlled via a “neural interface” This came about when Meta acquired CTRL-labs, which makes a wristband compatible with the devices, in 2019.

The company is positioning the upcoming glasses as a sort of successor to its current streaming product, the Ray-Ban Meta. It notes:

While Ray-Ban Meta opened up an entirely new category of screenless eyewear powered by AI, the XR industry has long dreamed of true AR glasses—a product that combines the benefits of a large holographic display and personalized AI assistance in a comfortable, all-day wearable form factor. Orion meets the challenge.

There are currently a lot of claims like “Orion has the largest field of view (FOV) in the smallest AR glasses form factor to date” but it’s too early for any details at this point. But this could be seen as a reference to the new Spectacles, which are extremely large with a very narrow FOV.

“This field of view unlocks truly immersive use cases for Orion, from multitasking windows and big-screen entertainment to life-size holograms of people,” Meta says. “All digital content can blend seamlessly with your perspective of the physical world.”

An important feature of Orion to do What it has in common with the new Spectacles is that they will initially be available only to developers. This is, of course, a common move in this world. Companies treat these announcements as a sort of proof of concept to get people excited about developing for the platform.

The Ray-Ban Metas have been a bit of a surprise hit for the company, especially after the steady, slow growth around the Quest line. If the product sticks to demos, it’s hard to accuse Zuckerberg of overdoing it when compared to products like Snapchat Spectacles on one end and Apple’s Vision Pro on the other.

The The latest addition to Ray-Bans is Meta AI It could also be seen as a stepping stone to more fully realized augmented reality headsets. Features like translation and navigation would be even more powerful when there was a visual element to the game.

We have encountered some unsurprising obstacles along the way to get to this point. one of the latest reportsOrion’s build cost is around $10,000 per unit. We know the Meta has a habit of losing money on Quest titles, but nothing this astronomical.

The same report also notes that when Meta ships the band ahead of Orion’s eventual release, it will offer a version of the headset with a significantly smaller HUD.

“Over the next few years, you can expect to see new devices building on our R&D efforts,” Meta writes. “Orion isn’t just a window into the future; it’s a glimpse into the real possibilities available today. From Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses to Orion, we’ve seen the good that can come from leveraging all that the digital world has to offer while allowing people to remain more present and empowered in the physical world.”