At the end of today’s Connect keynote by Mark Zuckerberg, the company took a look at the future of augmented reality. Zuckerberg presented a prototype of cutting-edge AR glasses on stage “Project Orion” (formerly: Project Nazare), which uses transparent glasses and a holographic display. According to Meta, this is not a market-ready or planned product, but “the most advanced AR glasses we’ve ever created”.
Advertisement
They look like ordinary glasses, with slightly thick edges and temples and transparent lenses. The latter are made not of glass, but of lightweight silicon carbide, which is intended to scatter light less. According to Zuckerberg, the weight is less than 100 grams. When you look at it, the integrated “large holographic display” enriches the real world with computer graphics. A video presents various everyday scenarios. Objects on the real table were given virtual labels with words such as “cocoa” or “banana” and several screens floated next to them.
Despite the slim form factor, a 70-degree field of view (FoV) seems large for AR glasses with transparent lenses. The chunkier Magic Leap 2 also offers 70 degrees, while the older HoloLens 2 only offers 52 degrees. However, the field of view is still somewhat smaller than mixed reality glasses like the Quest 3 (about 100 degrees) or the Apple Vision Pro, which capture the outside world with color cameras and depth sensors. In turn, they have a much larger housing.
Operation with hand tracking, voice and bracelet
Zuckerberg presented components such as microLED projectors (µLED) as well as “the arms of the glasses, which shoot light into a waveguide. They have nanostructures etched into their lenses so they can deflect light and project holograms in front of you at different depths and in different sizes.” All of this is directed to the eyes by circuits and sensors designed according to our own design. The battery is located in the temple of the glasses. According to Meta, the glasses are connected to a “wireless compute puck”, which supports the glasses with external computing power with low latency.
Meta explains, “Orion’s input system seamlessly combines voice, eye and hand tracking with an EMG wristband that allows users to swipe, click and scroll while staying present in the environment and people around them.” The company has been researching the aforementioned electromyography (EMG) bracelet for several years, which records the electrical activity of fine muscle movements. Even slightly tensing your fingers, swiping or clicking gestures should be enough to trigger input. To support the user with AI, Orion uses the in-house Llama model, which is also used in the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses.
Recommended editorial content
With your consent, an external YouTube video (Google Ireland Ltd) will be loaded here.
Always load YouTube videos
Meta “explains” to Orion.
The device has been in development for five years. Meta employees and selected test subjects can already test the glasses. The aim is to build on the findings and at some point incorporate them into the development of significantly cheaper AR glasses for consumers. Ultimately they aim to free users from the limitations of small smartphone screens. In long-distance conversations, the other person appears as a holographic avatar in your own room, expressing gestures and facial expressions.
Meta explains: “So you can open your fridge and ask for a recipe that’s inside. Or have a video call with a friend while adjusting the digital family calendar while washing dishes.” All this without taking out your cell phone. Meta also mentions multitasking of multiple windows in the room as well as large screens for movies and entertainment as further uses.
Meta cites greater image sharpness, adaptation to a more fashionable form factor, and mass production to make it more affordable as goals for future successors. In the coming years, Meta plans to introduce more devices.
“We’ll use Orion as an internal development kit,” Zuckerberg explained at the end of the presentation, “but we’ll also work with some external partners to make sure that we get a variety of content and that we can really improve the software and the experience – so that when we have the next version of this hardware, we’re ready to develop our first consumer holographic AR glasses.”
For now, Orion should be viewed as a time machine.”
The Verge’s Alex Heath already had the opportunity to try out Project Orion – as can be seen in a video. For example, Heath made a video call in the demo living room and played a kind of spatial pong with Mark Zuckerberg.
Recommended editorial content
With your consent, an external YouTube video (Google Ireland Ltd) will be loaded here.
Always load YouTube videos
The Verge’s Alex Heath was able to spend two hours trying out one of the nearly 1,000 glasses ever made.
(JPW)
