Mark Zuckerberg has revealed Orion, a prototype pair of AR glasses that use holographic displays to place virtual images in front of the wearer.
They are slightly chunky for now, but he promises that an eventual consumer product will be smaller.
Meta has revealed that it has been working on full holographic AR glasses for the best part of 10 years and is now ready to show them to the world.
During his Meta Connect 2024 keynote address, company boss Mark Zuckerberg showed Orion – the codename for the glasses – and gave us a glimpse of what could be possible with a full consumer model in the future.
Built to look like a regular pair of spectacles – like a chunkier version of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses – Orion has unique displays that allow a user to see through at the real world yet can also show 3D, holographic images as if they are projected in front of them. It puts even the Apple Vision Pro in the shade.
The screens are not made of glass at all, but silicon carbine and have a 70-degree field of view. You also aren't seeing the real world in passthrough (as on a Meta Quest 3 headset) but with normal vision.
Yet, through clever inner projection and tiny refraction elements, the virtual objects can be shown at just the right strength and angle to look like they are on a normal display.
It's pretty much a game changer.
What's more, as well as voice control and hand tracking, Orion can be used with a neural wristband that Meta is also working on. This will track the tinniest movements and, potentially, your thoughts to control what's on screen.
Of course, the prototype Orion model shown is far from a consumer release at present. However, they do work – as a video of invited trialists (including Nvidia's Jenson Huang) showed.
Zuckerberg wants to reduce the size and some of the internal tech before it can be taken further, but the fact that these exist and are operational is a massive step for the future of mixed reality.
"They exist, they are awesome, and are a glimpse at a future that's going to be really exciting," said the Meta boss. And for once, we can't help but agree.
