Meta Connect 2024: Meta’s Orion AR glasses unveiled

At Meta Connect, Mark Zuckerberg introduced Orion, Meta’s cutting-edge AR glasses that the company hopes might reshape the future of computing. Unlike traditional AR headsets, the Orion glasses are purportedly lightweight at less than 100 grams, and feature a wide field-of-view holographic display.

Orion lets users interact with virtual objects overlaid on the real world, all without isolating them from their surroundings.

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Orion’s display architecture uses tiny projectors in the arms of the glasses to beam light into waveguide lenses, creating holograms at various depths and sizes. One of early testers shown during the presentation called it "the craziest technology" they’ve ever experienced. Other reactions shown during a montage Zuckerberg shared during his keynote were similarly ecstatic.

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The glasses are designed to keep users connected to the physical world while interacting with digital content, allowing for everything from viewing messages to playing holographic games.

Credit: Meta

The glasses, currently codenamed Orion, will initially serve as a developer kit for internal use and select partners. Zuckerberg says Meta aims to refine its software and build diverse content before launching a consumer-ready version. With features like eye and hand-tracking, voice control, and a "neural interface" controlled by a wrist device, Orion offers a seamless, hands-free way to interact with the digital world.

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Meta seems to be focused on perfecting the technology for a mainstream audience, rather than releasing a retail product. The current iteration won’t be made available to consumers, but Zuckerberg said future versions will be more fashionable and affordable.

"Orion is a time machine," Zuckerberg said. "These glasses exist. They are awesome. And they are a glimpse of a future that I think is going to be pretty exciting."