Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, has unveiled its first working prototype of augmented-reality glasses, named Orion. The tech giant, based in California, laid out its vision for devices that blend the virtual and real worlds seamlessly.
“This is the physical world with holograms layered on top,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg as he dramatically presented the black, bulky glasses from a metal case on stage. He added, “For now, the best way to think about Orion is like a time machine. These glasses exist, they’re incredible, and they offer a glimpse into a future that I believe will be thrilling.”
In addition to the AR glasses, Meta also showcased new AI chatbot features for its services and a new Quest mixed-reality headset. The company’s shares reached an all-time closing high on Wednesday, rising by 0.9% to $568.31.
The Orion glasses, made from magnesium alloy and powered by custom silicon designed by Meta, will allow users to interact via hand gestures, voice commands, and a wrist-based neural interface. Zuckerberg emphasized that Meta aims to make the glasses smaller, sleeker, and more affordable before making them available to consumers.
While Big Tech has pursued AR devices for years, many previous attempts, like Google Glass, failed to catch on. Zuckerberg has championed AR technology as central to his vision for Meta’s “metaverse” initiative, which he first introduced in 2021. However, development has been slowed by high costs and technical challenges.
Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight, acknowledged Meta’s ambition to bring affordable AR and VR products to the mass market but noted that users remain skeptical of AI and will require more convincing.
Meta is targeting 2027 for the release of its first commercial AR glasses, by which time technical advancements are expected to reduce production costs, according to a source familiar with the plans.
Zuckerberg didn’t provide a live demonstration of Orion’s capabilities but instead shared a video showing people’s reactions when they tested the device. The footage offered brief glimpses of text messages and images displayed through the glasses, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang among the testers.
The closest product currently available is the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which initially struggled to gain traction but gained popularity last year after Meta added an AI assistant. This year, Meta introduced AI upgrades to the glasses, enabling users to scan QR codes and play music from Spotify using voice commands.
Later this year, Meta plans to introduce features like video generation and real-time language translation between English and languages such as French, Italian, or Spanish. Zuckerberg demonstrated the translation feature during a live conversation with Mexican MMA fighter Brandon Moreno, with the glasses translating speech between English and Spanish.
Billions Invested in Metaverse and AI
Meta also revealed several new AI-powered features for its ChatGPT-like chatbot, including plans to automatically generate personalized images for users’ Facebook and Instagram feeds. The company introduced an audio upgrade to its digital assistant, Meta AI, allowing it to respond to voice commands and offering users the option to make the assistant mimic celebrity voices such as Judi Dench and John Cena.
“Voice interaction with AI is going to feel much more natural than text,” Zuckerberg commented. The company also reported that over 400 million people are using Meta AI monthly, with 185 million engaging with it weekly.
In line with its approach of offering AI models for free public use, Meta released three new versions of its Llama 3 models, though it withheld them from the European Union due to regulatory concerns.
Meta also announced an affordable new entry in its Quest line of mixed-reality headsets, the Quest 3S, priced at $300, and reduced the cost of the Quest 3, which launched last year.
The company has invested tens of billions of dollars into AI, AR, and metaverse technologies, raising its capital expenditure forecast for 2024 to an unprecedented $37 to $40 billion.
Meta’s Reality Labs division, responsible for metaverse projects, reported an $8.3 billion loss in the first half of this year, following a $16 billion loss in 2023, according to the latest financial disclosures.
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