Meta Orion AR glasses prototype squeezes micro LED projectors, sensors, and AI hardware into a wearable design

Companies have been trying to make augmented reality glasses a thing for more than a decade, but the product category has yet to take off. But Meta thinks it might be close to cracking the code.

Facebook’s parent company introduced a new AR glasses prototype called Orion today, which will be available for testing soon by “meta employees and select external audiences.” The goal is to get feedback on the platform in hopes of launching a commercial version that you can actually buy sometime in the next few years.

In a nutshell, Orion looks like a pair of glasses with very thick frames. But that’s because a lot of hardware is packed into those frames, including:

• A pair of micro LED projectors that shine graphics onto a pair of silicon carbide lenses, overlaying digital graphics over real-world objects, with a 70 degree field of view
• “Custom silicon” that “enables dynamic AI and AR experiences to run on a pair of glasses using a fraction of the power and weight of a headset or smartphone”
• A set of cameras and sensors for eye and hand-tracking, as well as the ability to capture and analyze imagery from the world around you

The frames themselves are made of lightweight magnesium, which should make them a little more comfortable to wear than they look. Users can also wear a wristband that uses electromyography (EMG) for gesture-based input with haptic feedback, allowing you to interact with Orion in situations where you might not want to use voice commands or wave your hands in front of your eyes.

You don’t need to pair the Orion glasses with a smartphone or computer to use them, but they aren’t exactly a standalone product either. Most of the processing power is actually handled by a pocket-sized computer that connects to the glasses wirelessly.

So what are you supposed to actually do with Orion (or any AR glasses, for that matter)? Well, folks have been pushing AR wearables for ages as a new form factor that lets us interact with digital content without staring at a smartphone, tablet, or computer screen. Instead you can look at the world around you and view relevant information when you need it. For example, you could identify the plant you’re looking at, provide labels for landmarks in your field of view, or as The Verge’s Dieter Bohn discovered during a hands-on demo, use AI to identify ingredients on a table and display a recipe that makes use of those ingredients.

Meta is also positioning the glasses as something you can use to make “hands-free video calls” over WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger without removing your phone from your pocket. So far the Verge reports that while you can see the person on the other end of the call in the glasses, they can’t see you… yet. But eventually the plan is to display a virtual avatar to people you call while you’re wearing the glasses.

But for now, Orion still isn’t a real thing you can buy. It’s just the latest in a long line of fancy tech demos for a future that frees us from the tyranny of our smartphone displays… which may or may not ever arrive.

via Meta blog