Alongside the Quest 3S and AI updates, we got a glimpse of Meta’s future at Meta Connect. After teasing the device several times in recent months, Meta finally gave the world a proper look at its “full holographic” augmented reality glasses, aka Orion. The company is packing a lot of tech into those chunky frames, which are still in prototype form.
Meta first revealed five years ago that it was developing holographic smart glasses, but the company has actually been working on the project for a decade. These glasses appear far less cumbersome to wear than previous mainstream AR products such as Magic Leap, Microsoft’s Hololens and even Google Glass. They also don’t block you out from the rest of the world as a virtual reality headset does (though Meta’s headsets do allow you to see what’s around you via the onboard cameras).
You’re likely going to have to wait a few years to get your hands on this device. For the time being, Meta employees and “select external audiences” are able to use Orion. That’s in order to help the company learn more and iterate on the product as it works toward a consumer version of the AR glasses.
A roadmap that leaked last year indicated that Meta planned to release its first consumer AR glasses in 2027. As it happens, Snap also recently debuted its fifth-gen AR Spectacles, but for now those are similarly only available to developers who are willing to pay a $99 monthly fee.
This story is developing; please refresh for updates…
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-reveals-its-orion-smart-glasses-175353381.html?src=rss