Could Meta’s Orion AR glasses be your next go-to gadget? Let’s see how they stack up against traditional VR headsets!

“A lot of people have said this is the craziest technology they’ve ever seen,” Zuckerberg boasted during his keynote speech about the Orion true AR glasses. On Wednesday, at Meta Connect 2024, Meta revealed its biggest bet, which is still experimental. These glasses take smart eyewear to the next level by integrating digital technology directly into the lenses.

At their core, the Orion glasses are like a fancy computer you wear on your face. Traditionally, face-computers have struggled with displays that are heavy, hot, low-resolution, or have a narrow field of view. But imagine you walk into a café, and instead of scrolling through your phone, you look around and interact with holographic displays floating in the air. That’s the exciting promise of Meta’s Orion glasses, where reality blends seamlessly with the digital world!

Mark Zuckerberg unveiled new augmented reality glasses on Wednesday at the company’s annual developer conference. The glasses, named Orion, are set to level up smart eyewear by projecting digital images, people, games, and more into the real world. They move us closer to a future where eyewear can handle tasks usually done on phones and computers.

Meta envisions you sitting in your living room, chatting with a friend from halfway across the globe. You’d see their digital avatar as if they were sitting right next to you. I find it really interesting that Orion will be controlled not just by voice and touch commands but also through a “wrist-based neural interface.” This means you can manage everything without drawing too much attention—perfect for meetings or when you’re out and about. The wristband reads subtle electrical signals from your brain. Next, it translates them into actions, like tapping your fingers to pull up a holographic card game or send a message.

While this tech sounds promising for virtual reality, especially when you need to make a bunch of little movements to reach a goal, I can’t quite picture using it for something as immediate as typing. I mean, it raises questions—how would it deal with those random thoughts that pop up? You’d probably need some sort of AI to filter things out, or else it could get messy fast!

Amid these possibilities, Meta has claimed that the Orion feature the largest field of view in the smallest AR glasses yet. This statement seems like a subtle jab at Snap’s Spectacles, which are bulkier and offer a narrower field of view.

Could Orion glasses take the place of your VR headset?

Zuckerberg emphasized that Orion aren’t your typical smart display. They’re designed to be super interactive and could take over some of the things you usually do on your smartphone. Instead of constantly looking down at a device, you’ll be able to use apps and features directly through the glasses.

“The big innovation with Orion is the field of view,” says Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. With a field of view of 72 degrees, these glasses offer a more engaging experience for gaming and social media. For comparison, most headsets typically have a field of view between 30 and 50 degrees.

Weighing in at about 3.5 ounces, Orion glasses are a bit heavier than regular glasses but significantly lighter than those bulky mixed reality headsets like the Meta Quest or Apple’s Vision Pro. Plus, they’re made from magnesium, which is lighter than aluminum and helps with heat distribution. It seems like they could really shake things up!

Meta is pitching the Orion true AR glasses as a follow-up to its Ray-Ban Meta livestream eyewear. They mention that while Ray-Ban Meta introduced a new category of display-less glasses powered by AI, the XR industry has always aimed for true AR glasses. These would bring together a large holographic display and smart AI assistance in a comfortable, all-day wearable. That’s where Orion steps in.

In one demo, Meta showed how Orion’s vision tech and AI can read ingredients from a table and overlay info tags on each item. Along with the visual and audio features you get from the Ray-Bans, Orion might also let you access social apps like Instagram through multiple floating windows.

Release date

Let’s get the not-so-great news out of the way first. These devices won’t be making their debut this year, and there’s no official release date just yet. A leaked roadmap from last year suggested we might see them in 2027, which feels like a long time away. However, Meta mentioned that Orion will launch “in the near future,” so there’s a little bit of hope there.

Meta assures us that the current product prototype is a true representation of what could eventually be available to consumers. Still, many of Zuckerberg’s ambitious ideas are largely theoretical at this point. And given how slowly users seem to be warming up to these concepts, it looks like we might have quite a wait ahead of us.

Final thoughts on the Orion true augmented reality glasses

Looking at the Meta Ray-Bans, Apple Vision Pro, and Snap’s Spectacles, we seem on the edge of something big. AR glasses and headsets might soon become a regular part of our daily lives. It’s still early for the Orion true AR glasses. But if Meta can pull off the promised experiences with solid performance, they could really outshine the competition. This isn’t just about Orion; it’s about AR glasses as a whole. The future is still a bit off, but it’s definitely within reach. And the concept is spot on for what we need.

Zuckerberg captured it perfectly when he said, “These glasses are like a time machine—a sneak peek into an exciting future.”