Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows off the Orion AR Glasses as he delivers a keynote speech during the annual Meta Connect event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, USA, September 25, 2024.
Manuel Orbegozo Reuters
The most impressive aspect of Meta’s Orion augmented reality glasses has more to do with size and comfort than impressive computer graphics.
CNBC senior media and technology correspondent Julia Boorstin got to use the Orion this week at Meta’s annual Connect conference and was impressed by the prototype’s compact form factor compared to the various Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro VR headsets.
“What was really impressive to me about them was that they were incredibly light,” Boorstin said.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Orion glasses on Wednesday and described them as “a glimpse of a future that I think is going to be pretty exciting.” The glasses are black and thick-framed and feature a wireless “puck” that allows the device to run apps like a holographic game of digital chess or ping pong that appear as digital graphics embedded in the real world.
The experimental glasses are part of Zuckerberg’s multibillion-dollar plans to build the next generation of personal computers for the so-called metaverse, a term used by Meta to describe people interacting with each other online in virtual 3D spaces.
While Orion isn’t capable of putting users into fully virtual worlds, the glasses can overlay digital graphics onto the real world. And unlike VR headsets that can be difficult to wear for extended periods, Boorstin said the Orion glasses fit well.
“The form factor was essentially no different than wearing a pair of heavy, regular glasses, and they weren’t uncomfortable to wear,” he said.
Although the current incarnation of the Orion AR glasses could pass as a movie prop for the movie “Revenge of the Nerds,” Boorstin said she thinks they’ll only get smaller as the technology improves.
“This is the first generation — four years from now, how much smaller will it be?” Borstyn said.
CNBC’s Julia Boorstin tests Meta’s new Orion AR glasses on September 25, 2024.
Stephen Desaulniers | CNBC
When wearing the AR glasses, Boorstin was able to see digital holograms that show the visual icons of apps like Instagram, Facebook and some add-ons like a browser and a video game blended into the environment inside a small office at Meta’s headquarters .
Boorstin saw with her own eyes these digital icons superimposed on her real environment. This is an improvement over the “pass-through” techniques used by current VR devices. For transit, companies use cameras on the outside of their headsets to show users a digital representation of the real world combined with computer graphics through their devices’ screens.
Orion is able to overlay digital images onto the real world using a much more accurate method. Its lenses are not made of traditional glass or plastic, but of a refractive material called silicon carbide. When Orion’s tiny projectors, built into the arms of the glasses, shine light onto the silicon carbide lenses, wearers can see “holograms” in their field of vision, an experience that Boorstin said “felt completely normal and very natural.”
When the holograms were turned off, “it felt like wearing glasses or sunglasses, and it wasn’t distracting or nauseating,” Boorstin said.
Boorstin was able to open, close and scroll through apps with the help of a wristband, which she said looked like an old, lightweight Fitbit.
“The wristband can detect your finger and hand movements, so your hand is next to you,” Boorstin said, describing how her finger movements and gestures manipulated the digital icons. “I was amazed that it was so accurate and that I could understand these hand movements, and it captured them exactly.”
In one demonstration, the Orion glasses were able to recognize various food ingredients, such as chia seeds, spread out on a table. He then projected an appropriate recipe that appeared digitally over the real-world seeds. In another demo, Boorstin played a simple game of pong, except the video game’s graphics were projected onto an actual desk in front of her.
One demo that really impressed her involved seeing her producer’s face appear digitally in front of her while she called from another room. The overall 3D video calling experience “felt very clear” to Boorstin, who noted that the resolution of the graphic would change depending on where she placed it within her field of view. It was enough to scare her and make her wonder if the producer could see her in real life as it looked like he was right there in front of her (he couldn’t).
“I could see him perfectly and he couldn’t see me,” Boorstin said. “But I was listening to him and it was like I was FaceTiming him, but he was in my glasses.”
By experiencing Orion, Boorstin said she has a better sense of how Meta’s research and development directly benefits the company’s other products, such as Quest headphones and Ray-Ban smart glasses.
“They’ve worked so hard to make these components small, tiny, efficient, weightless,” he said.
Clock: Meta Unveils Orion AR Glasses
