Meta Unveils 'Orion' Augmented Reality Glasses

[MacRumors]

Facebook parent company Meta today unveiled "the most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made," called Orion. Meta claims Orion looks and feels like a regular pair of glasses, but with augmented reality capabilities.

The glasses have been in development for over five years, and Meta describes them as lightweight and great for indoor and outdoor use. Unlike a VR headset, AR glasses augment the real world rather than shutting it out, providing digital experiences that are not constrained by the display of a smartphone or headset.

Orion has the largest field of view in the smallest AR glasses form to date. That field of view unlocks truly immersive use cases for Orion, from multitasking windows and big-screen entertainment to life-size holograms of people - all digital content that can seamlessly blend with your view of the physical world.

According to Meta, Orion is a "feat of miniaturization," featuring components that are sized down to a fraction of a millimeter. The glasses have clear lenses that allow the wearer to see other people's eyes and expressions.

Orion includes built-in contextual AI that is able to "sense and understand" the world around the wearer to "anticipate and proactively address" the wearer's needs. Meta AI can do things like craft a recipe from what's inside your refrigerator, or phone a friend while the user washes dishes.

Orion is not a consumer focused product, but it is also not just a research prototype. Meta is providing its employees and "select external audiences" with access to Orion, so that it can use the data to "learn, iterate, and build" toward a consumer AR glasses product line.

Going forward, Meta wants to improve the AR display to make visuals sharper, optimize for a slimmer form factor, and work to build at scale to make the AR glasses more affordable.

Apple too is rumored to be working on AR glasses, but the product is still many years away from launching at this point. Apple has struggled with getting the power of an iPhone into a device that uses only a fraction of the power to prevent overheating.

Along with AR glasses, Facebook today introduced new AI features for its Ray-Ban Meta Glasses and unveiled a super cheap $300 Meta Quest 3S mixed reality headset, a more affordable version of the Meta Quest 3.

Article Link: Meta Unveils 'Orion' Augmented Reality Glasses

 

[Think|Different]

Pretty interesting, cool to see, even if not for me. I just can’t look back, after Quest etc, on any of these products that don’t work natively with Apple’s ecosystem. It’s like night and day, using AVP with all my Apple subs, content, etc. I am afraid, just like their Ray Bans (damn, they must be salty about these), it halts my interest, full stop. And that’s not even touching the FACEBOOK of it all.


Lots of info on it here: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/blog/quest/orion-ar-glasses-augmented-reality/

 

[jz0309]

So, not for consumers? Fine with me, they look ugly. Will be interesting to see how they are perceived, esp to the “old” Google glasses.
But it is also Meta, which means you are the product…

 

[aca345]

This looks like a really impressive prototype, and immediately seems like it has more potential than Vision Pro or Quest products. This just gets me excited to see what Apple can do in this space, though it will likely be a while before we see what they are working on.

 

[boss.king]

These look like Lego glasses scaled up. Boy, they’re thick.

 

[Think|Different]

This looks like a really impressive prototype, and immediately seems like it has more potential than Vision Pro or Quest products. This just gets me excited to see what Apple can do in this space, though it will likely be a while before we see what they are working on.

"While Orion won’t make its way into the hands of consumers"

A *key* detail in any conversation that ultimately tries to compare these with AVP, Quest, Ray Ban Meta glasses, etc...

 

[kiensoy]

Le Zuck actually seems pretty passionate about AR/VR. They keep pushing updates and features to their Quest and Ray-Ban devices. I wanna see how these glasses evolve.

 

[DrJR]

Apple AR device should have come first. So many more applications. Lying down watching video without a hand holding a phone. Big plus. “You can’t see what your not looking for…” would be the tag line.

 

[Veinticinco]

Zuckerberg could announce the invention of an affordable time machine, and I still wouldn't touch a Meta/FB product with a ten-foot bargepole.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Say what you will about Meta but this tech is pretty impressive.

 

[DocMultimedia]

I looked thru the Quest selection of apps last year and there wasn't a single thing that I found interesting. But I do like how these look compared to the AVP helmet.

 

[blocsapp]

I wonder how much these would cost if they did ship at the ultra high price tag mentioned. $3-6k?

 

[dannyyankou]

Orion is not a consumer focused product, but it is also not just a research prototype. Meta is providing its employees and "select external audiences" with access to Orion, so that it can use the data to "learn, iterate, and build" toward a consumer AR glasses product line.

so… a research prototype

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Open cesspool. Just saying.

 

[Kylo83]

Meta is doing so well, Apple is falling behind in everything

 

[knowsuchpeace]

I wonder how much these would cost if they did ship at the ultra high price tag mentioned. $3-6k?

this tech at this time is more in the realm of $50k per device or higher

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Orion is not a consumer focused product, but it is also not just a research prototype. Meta is providing its employees and "select external audiences" with access to Orion, so that it can use the data to "learn, iterate, and build" toward a consumer AR glasses product line.

So not a research prototype, but a research prototype?

 

[Makosuke]

This is a step closer to what I assume Apple’s far-future trajectory for Vision is. AR/spatial computing, to be at all mainstream, needs to be a pair of glasses that you barely notice are different from regular glasses. These clearly are not that, but they’re much closer than Vision Pro is.

On the other hand, I’m not going to declare Apple behind in the march to the goal, since this is not a product you can actually buy, so it’s still effectively a prototype, not burdened by all the things necessary to do in a consumer product. Apple could well have internal devices like this, but they’re not going to mention them unless and until they are ready to sell, which could be 5-10 years down the line.

 

[blocsapp]

this tech at this time is more in the realm of $50k per device or higher

Yikes! Makes Vision Pro price look like spare change.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yawn

This whole space is one to check back on in maybe 10 years

 

[rizzo41999]

The RayBan Meta glasses are genuinely awesome - I love them! Excited to try these...they resonate more with the masses than VR at this time.

 

[MaximizedAction]

Now THIS is what I’m eagerly waiting for for the consumer market. Having both hands free while still being able to access digital stuff, while still being in the real world.

 

[Kylo83]

All Apple can do is a camera button that is slower than normal usage, and Vision Pro is way to expensive, Meta is really pushing innovation and I love the quest 3 and this will be epic, gone are the days of Apple being the leaders in tech

 

[NeonNights]

I find this a lot more interesting than AVP. The thickness is acceptable as a prototype and I look forward to a slimmer consumer version.

 

[AlexESP]

What is the point of “announcing” a prototype? We just can’t say whether this is a good product or not (unless it’s too bad). It’s just not relevant.