Meta Claims AR Breakthroughs

Meta unveiled prototype augmented reality (AR) glasses that it described as "truly representative of something that could ship to consumers." The Orion glasses support holographic displays, which enable the wearer to place 2D and 3D digital content within their field of view.

Although the prototype glasses look comically large (see picture) and could attract ridicule, Meta enthused: "Nailing the form factor, delivering holographic displays, developing compelling AR experiences, creating new human-computer interaction paradigms – and doing it all in one cohesive product – is one of the most difficult challenges our industry has ever faced. It was so challenging that we thought we had less than a 10% chance of pulling it off successfully. Until now." 

While many people will be too self-conscious to wear the Orion glasses out and about, the form factor could be light enough and sleek enough to be used for enterprise applications or in the privacy of the home.

Orion will only be available to Meta employees and some external actors, but the company said it is building towards a consumer AR glasses product line, which it plans to begin shipping in the near future.

Meta said it is focused on "tuning the AR display quality to make the visuals even sharper,  optimising wherever we can to make the form factor even smaller and building at scale to make them more affordable."

Meta also unveiled Meta Quest 3S, a headset that promises the same mixed reality capabilities and performance as the Meta Quest 3, but at a lower price point - starting at 299.99 US dollars for the 128 GB model. The 128 GB Meta Quest 3 had cost about 500 dollars, but its display resolution and field of view is better than that of the Meta Quest 3S.

The company also announced new capabilities for its Ray-Ban Meta glasses, such as being able to translate speech in real time. "When you’re talking to someone speaking Spanish, French or Italian, you’ll hear what they say in English through the glasses’ open-ear speakers," Meta said, noting the glasses will support more languages in future.

Source: Meta newsroom