Meta’s Orion AR Glasses Prototype is the Future of Personal Computing

Meta pushed tech innovation a notch higher when it unveiled a prototype of its Orion AR glasses on September 25 at the Connect Event. According to CNBC, the impressive part of Meta’s Orion AR glasses prototype is not the flashy graphics. Rather, it’s the compactness and comfort that comes with the Orion glasses.

Glimpse into the Future

During the Connect Event, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pitched the AR Orion glasses as a glimpse of the future. Endowed with a thick frame and black in color, Meta’s Orion AR glasses are fitted with a wireless puck that allows them to run apps, more like a holographic pingpong game or digital chess.

The prototype glasses are part of Meta’s multibillion dollar plan to shape the next generation of computing for the metaverse. Although Orion may not immerse users fully in the virtual world, in the real world, the glasses can overlay graphics. Meta’s Orion glasses are also less cumbersome to wear for prolonged periods.

“The form factor didn’t feel meaningfully different from wearing a pair of heavy, ordinary glasses, and they were not uncomfortable to wear. “This is the first generation — four years from now, how much smaller will they be?,” a CNBC reporter who tried the Orion AR Glasses said.

Face Computers

At the very basic level, Orion is a fancy computer that one wears on the face. It addresses face-computer challenges that have persisted for a long time. These include weight, heat, tiny field of view, and low resolution.

Meta’s AR glasses technology allows users to see digital holograms that display visual icons of apps like Facebook and Instagram. Digital icons are overlaid atop the real-world, a big improvement from the passthrough technique applied in virtual reality devices. To create overpasses, cameras outside the headset give users a digital representation of the real world. This representation is blended with computer graphics via device screens.

Custom-designed by Meta, Orion augmented reality glasses apply an expansive method to overlay digital images from the real world. It uses special lenses made from a refractive material known as silicon carbide to achieve this goal. Orion glasses are fitted with miniature projectors in-built into the arms. These projectors direct light into the silicon carbide lenses, allowing users to see holograms in their field.

Orion comes with a wristband that allows users to open, close, or scroll through applications. The lightweight band moves digital icons by sensing hand and finger movements, as well as gestures accurately.

Imaging the Future

Meta imagines a future where people will use the first true augmented reality glasses to interact with AI and communicate through digital information that’s overlaid in the real world.

“I had thought that the hologram part of this was going to be possible before AI. It’s an interesting twist of fate that the AI part is actually possible before the holograms are really able to be mass-produced at an affordable price,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

Orion leverages generative AI capabilities present in Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses and integrates a visual element into the field view of a user. From the current prototype, Meta’s journey to full-fledged AR glasses will be gradual. On one end, the social media giant will produce AI-powered smart glasses. On the other end, it will produce glasses with small displays that offer lighter-touch interactions. Orion represents full-fledged AR glasses with sufficient computing power.

The AR glasses space will also get competitive as other players launch their versions of augmented reality glasses. Snap is already working on next generation AR spectacles. Currently, Apple is competing in headsets with the Vision Pro as it develops its own AR glasses. It will be interesting to see how augmented reality shapes personal computing moving forward.