At the Meta Connect event this morning, Meta officially showed off their Orion augmented reality (AR) smart glasses prototype. Orion differs from their other products because the content is displayed directly on the Orion mirror to combine the real world with the virtual world.
Orion can be controlled using eye movements, gestures and even a neural control system by just thinking through the bracelet on the hand. This is similar to the electromyography (EMG) technology wristband shown by Meta in 2022 for device control with just a thought.
In other words Orion offers an experience like using Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest but on a pair of glasses instead of a bulky headset. According to Mark Zuckerberg, Orion weighs only 100 grams with a 70-degree viewing angle that is the widest ever offered on a smart glasses. The Micro LED emitting system is used on glass made of silicon carbide.
To reduce Orion's weight, all of the processing power is housed in a separate oval-shaped device that is tethered wirelessly to the glasses. The device can be kept in the user's pocket. Next, various sensors and cameras are placed on the stem to track the gestures of the user's hand movements.
Meta did not share the specifications of the processor but it is most likely manufactured by Qualcomm because Meta signed an agreement with this company in the past. The size of the battery and its usage life have also not been announced.
When worn, all elements of virtual reality will float in the user's eye view. Orion successfully realized the Project Nazare technology shown by Meta in 2021. What makes these glasses smart is the use of Meta AI as the brain.
It understands what it sees by being able to provide context and provide answers to questions given in the form of floating audio and text. When conducting a teleconference session, the caller's avatar will float in 3D using Codec Avatar technology.
Even though Orion is the most powerful and lightest AR glasses ever produced, it still looks thicker when compared to regular glasses or the Ray-Ban Meta released before. However, this can be forgiven at this point as it is still a prototype.