In 2019, Meta announced that it was working on developing augmented reality (AR) glasses. Five years later, they finally developed their true AR glasses, called Orion. The glasses were announced at Meta’s company’s annual developer conference, Meta Connect 2024, held on September 25.
Meta says that it is “the most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made.”
The Orion AR glasses bridge the gap between the physical and virtual worlds, providing users with a seamless and immersive AR experience.
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What are Meta Orion AR Glasses?
Orion is an augmented reality (AR) glasses developed by Meta that integrate both the physical and virtual worlds seamlessly. Meta defines Orion as the bridge between the “physical and virtual worlds, putting people at the center so they can be more present, connected, and empowered in the world.”
These glasses provide immersive digital experiences using holographic displays that allow users to interact with 2D and 3D content in their physical environment.
Orion has a big, immersive AR display with a built-in AI feature to understand the surrounding environment, allowing the wearer to multitask.
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Meta Orion AR Glasses Features
These are the prominent features of the Meta Orion AR Glasses. Let’s take a look:
- Holographic Displays: The AR glasses come with a large, immersive AR display with a ~70-degree field of view (FOV). It is enhanced by custom silicon carbide lenses that provide optical clarity and minimal light distortion.
- Personalized AI Assistant: Meta AI integrated into the glasses helps with tasks like providing step-by-step recipe guidance or recommendations based on real-time contextual data.
- Advanced Input Control: Orion supports natural inputs such as voice commands, eye tracking, and hand gestures. They also come with a high-performance electromyography (EMG) wristband for subtle input via wrist movements.
- Multitasking Capability: The wide FOV allows the wearers to manage multiple tasks at once. The glasses display various panels in their environment for effortless productivity.
- Collaborative AR: Users can interact with virtual objects and collaborate with others in real-time AR, regardless of their physical location.
- Wireless Freedom: With a lightweight magnesium frame and no cumbersome wires, Orion offers the flexibility to move around freely.
- Pocketable Computing: The compact, wireless design of the glasses ensures low-latency, high-performance computing everywhere.
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What is the price of the Meta Orion AR Glasses?
Each pair of AR glasses reportedly cost $10,000 to make, due to the advanced technology and features they offer. Meta says that it will take time to bring the price down to a more consumer-friendly range, with a potential target price of around $1000 in the future.
Meta Orion AR Glasses Availability
The Orion AR glasses are only a prototype, not a consumer-ready product. This is the first time Meta unveiled a prototype of AR glasses, with no official release date.
As of now, there is no set timeline for when the glasses will be available. According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta is currently treating the platform as a developer kit while they work on reducing the cost and refining the design.
So, it is expected that the final release may take some years. However, one thing is for sure, the AR glasses are expected to be priced similarly to a high-end phone or laptop, to make them more accessible to consumers.
