Mark Zuckerberg's Meta introduces Orion augmented reality glasses: "Glimpse of a future"

At Wednesday’s Meta Connect event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Orion, which he called “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen.”

Orion is significantly smaller than Snap’s newly unveiled Spectacles 5 and offers true AR capabilities. The glasses use small projectors in the temples to create a heads-up display, similar to an updated version of Google Glass.

According to Zuckerberg, the glasses have been in development for a decade, though they still seem to be in the concept phase. “These glasses exist, they are awesome, and they are a glimpse of a future that I think will be exciting,” he said during the presentation. He also mentioned that more “fine-tuning” is needed before Meta is ready to release them as a consumer product.

A standout feature is the “neural interface” control, which stems from Meta’s 2019 acquisition of CTRL-labs. The interface will use a wristband compatible with the glasses to allow for this advanced control system.

Meta is positioning Orion as a successor to its current Ray-Ban Meta livestream product, describing it as:

“[W]hile Ray-Ban Meta opened up an entirely new category of display-less glasses super-charged by AI, the XR industry has long dreamt of true AR glasses — a product that combines the benefits of a large holographic display and personalized AI assistance in a comfortable, all-day wearable form factor. Orion rises to the challenge.”

Meta has made several bold claims about Orion, such as saying it has “the largest field of view (FOV) in the smallest AR glasses form to date.” Although it is too early for specific details, this can be seen as a subtle jab at the new Spectacles, which are quite large and have a much narrower FOV.

“That field of view unlocks truly immersive use cases for Orion, from multitasking windows and big-screen entertainment to life-size holograms of people,” Meta said, “all digital content that can seamlessly blend with your view of the physical world.”

Like the Spectacles, Orion will initially be available only to developers. This is a common strategy in the industry, as companies often use these early announcements to generate excitement and encourage development for the platform.