Meta unveils futuristic Orion AR glasses, which will let users project digital images onto the real world
The design of the Meta Orion allows all digital content to be seamlessly integrated with your view of the real world. It has hand-tracking, eye-tracking, AI voice assistance, and a wrist-based neural interface that lets users operate features with brain signals.
Ankush Pandey
INTRO
- First AR glasses have been released by Meta.
- It has a Meta AI installed.
- In contrast to MR headsets, the glasses include a fully transparent lens.
The Orion, the company's first AR glasses, was unveiled at Meta Connect 2024. The silicon-carbide construction of these glasses revolutionizes display technology by allowing holographic projections of different sizes to blend seamlessly with the surrounding environment. CEO Mark Zukerberg demonstrated the amazing features of the Orion by revealing that in addition to hand and eye tracking, AI voice assistance, and a wrist-based neural interface that lets users control functions using brain signals are all included in the glasses. It appears like the Meta Orion is destined to become the standard for cellphones in the future.
In contrast to earlier Ray-Ban smart glasses, Orion uses cutting-edge augmented reality capabilities to blend digital and real-world images. Now let's explore further.
Meta's Orion AR glasses
Introducing Orion, a face computer of the kind we have been seeing in Marvel's Iron Man, into the real world. The Orion boasts the biggest field of vision seen in the smallest AR eyewear design to date. It can be used to unlock many previously unlocked high-level assignments. Digital content that can mix in smoothly with your perspective of the real world includes life-size holograms of people, big-screen entertainment, and multitasking windows. Meta highlights that the glasses are lightweight and adaptable, making them ideal for both indoor and outdoor use. This allows for face-to-face communication, even from a distance.
The salient feature of these smart glasses is that they genuinely resemble conventional glasses in terms of appearance and texture. Unlike MR headsets or other AR glasses, the glasses include a fully transparent lens. Thus, other people's eyes and facial emotions are still visible.
In terms of features, there is extensive integration of Onion and Meta AI. With its ability to understand what you are seeing in the real world, it can provide you with useful visualizations. For example, you can ask for a dish when you open your refrigerator based on what is in it. Or, while washing dishes, video call a friend and edit a digital family calendar.
With Orion, you can keep in touch via WhatsApp and Messenger to read and send messages, as well as take advantage of hands-free video calls to stay up to date with friends and family. The advent of Meta Orion glasses will eliminate the need for you to take out your phone, unlock it, locate the appropriate app, and notify a friend that you will be late for dinner. All of these tasks can be completed through your glasses.
The Orion system consists of three components: a wireless block that resembles a large phone battery pack, and a "neural wristband" to control them. The glasses can't fully function when they're alone; they need to be close to the puck — about 12 feet away — to work properly.
The Orion, Meta's most recent invention, is fantastic in theory and even in the demonstration, but integrating it into daily life will be the most difficult task. In 2027, Meta plans to deliver its first pair of AR glasses for sale to customers.
Quest 3S: Meta's entry-level MR headsets
Quest 3S, an entry-level model in Meta's Quest range of mixed-reality (MR) headsets, has also been released. The business revealed at Meta Connect 2024 that there will be two storage options available for the Quest 3S: 128GB and 256 GB. The pricing of the two variants was also disclosed, with the costlier model coming in at nearly Rs 33,000 and the cheaper variant at $299.99 (approximately Rs 25,000).
The Qualcomm Snapdragon XR 2 Gen 2 chipset powers the Quest 3S. The processor is the same as that of the Meta Quest 3, which was released the previous year. The graphical performance of the latest Meta MR headset is quadruple that of the Meta Quest 2. In addition, it has a thinner design than the Quest 2 and fresnel lenses. A pass through mode button lets you see virtual items in your physical area, and it also has two RGB cameras.
It is planned for October 15th for the Quest 3S to go on sale. Along with launching the more capable Quest 3, which it unveiled last year, for $499.99 (approximately Rs 42,000), the business is also abandoning its more advanced Quest 2 and Quest Pro devices.
