Meta unveils AR glasses prototype - Time machine to future
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 9:53 am
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During his announcement, Zuckerberg didn’t showcase Orion’s features live. Instead, he played a video capturing users' reactions as they tried the device, offering brief glimpses of text messages and images displayed through the glasses. Notably, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang was among the prominent figures testing the technology.
In a dramatic moment on stage, CEO Mark Zuckerberg opened a sleek metal case and revealed the chunky black glasses, saying, “This is the physical world with holograms overlaid on it,” encapsulating Meta’s aspirations to transform everyday reality with virtual elements.Meta Platforms (META.O), the parent company of Facebook, unveiled a groundbreaking prototype of its augmented-reality glasses, codenamed Orion, at its annual Connect conference on Wednesday. The reveal marked a bold step in Meta’s vision to blend the virtual and physical worlds.
Crafted from magnesium alloy and powered by Meta's custom silicon, Orion glasses allow users to interact through hand-tracking, voice commands, and a wrist-based neural interface. Zuckerberg added that Meta is focused on making the glasses smaller, sleeker, and more affordable before eventually releasing them to the public."Right now, I think the best way to think about Orion is as a time machine," he said. "These glasses are real, they're incredible, and they offer a thrilling glimpse of the future I believe will be truly exciting."
According to a source ahead of the event, Meta plans to release its first consumer-ready AR glasses by 2027, with anticipated technical advances helping to reduce production costs.Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight, highlighted Meta's clear ambition to bring virtual and augmented reality products to the mainstream by making them affordable. However, he pointed out that users remain cautious about AI and will need some convincing before fully embracing it.
During his announcement, Zuckerberg didn’t showcase Orion’s features live. Instead, he played a video capturing users' reactions as they tried the device, offering brief glimpses of text messages and images displayed through the glasses. Notably, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang was among the prominent figures testing the technology.
Later this year, Meta is rolling out even more exciting updates, including video generation and real-time language translation between English and French, Italian, or Spanish. In a live demo, Zuckerberg showed off the glasses' translation ability during a conversation with Mexican MMA fighter Brandon Moreno, effortlessly switching between English and Spanish.The closest thing to the prototype right now is the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. Initially, they didn’t generate much buzz, but last year, things changed when Meta introduced an AI assistant. This year, Meta upped the game with new AI-powered features—users can now scan QR codes or stream music from Spotify with simple voice commands.
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