Meta Orion, ‘true’ AR smart glasses could reportedly come out later in 2024

Meta is reportedly working on a new pair of smart glasses, and these could deliver true augmented reality (AR) experiences. According to a report, the Meta Orion True AR smart glasses are in an advanced stage of development and could be unveiled and demonstrated at the company’s annual Connect event for developers. The device is said to be different from its Ray-Ban smart glasses counterparts. In some functionality and form-factor, it may be similar to Brilliant Lab’s Frame AI glasses, which were unveiled earlier this month.

According to a report from Business Insider, Meta’s real AR glasses project is called Orion, and that may also be the name of the product. Citing unnamed sources, the report claimed that the company’s AR team was being pushed to get the smart glasses ready in time for the Meta Connect event in order to demonstrate a “high level” of performance. However, it also said that the wearable device is unlikely to go on sale this year despite being demo-ready with advanced prototypes. The purpose of the demo is to generate excitement for the product and the capabilities of the tech giant and to gauge people’s reaction to determine product market fit.

Separately, a report from The Verge claims that Meta’s first true AR glasses will only be launched in 2027. The report found a presentation of the company’s roadmap for AR and VR devices. One possible reason for the delay could be that the technology itself is not ready. At the moment, no other details are known about the Orion smart glasses. However, it is unlikely to be the same as the company’s Ray-Ban smart glasses which have no display feature. The Meta Quest series comes closest to what enthusiasts expected, however, the headset is virtual reality (VR) focused and only includes a few AR experiences.

True AR smart glasses would instead be closer to Apple Vision Pro or Frame AI glasses, superimposing elements from a digital display onto the real world. The Frame AI glasses weigh less than 40 grams and have two layers of lenses, the outer one being an augmented reality (AR) lens and the inner one having an optional space to attach prescription lenses. The display in the device is a micro-OLED panel and the entire setup uses magnets to fit the components.

Talking about its features, the Frame AI glasses have visual recognition capabilities and can provide details of objects visible on the lenses. It can also translate text in real time, show nutritional details of food products, conduct live web searches, and even generate images and use AR lenses to superimpose them on the real world. Can be kept in such conditions. The company said the visual analysis feature and live translation are powered by OpenAI’s AI models, and Perplexity AI enables live web search.