With Orion, Meta gets serious in augmented reality glasses business

Meta has recently held its annual Connect event. With that, the Facebook parent company announced a lot of new AI smarts for Meta AI, as well as new hardware like Orion and the budget-friendly Meta Quest 3S.

Orion is Meta’s first-ever first true augmented reality (AR) glasses. Previously known as Project Nazare, Orion combines the look of regular glasses with immersive AR capabilities—with a large holographic display and a few AI smarts here and there.

And you may remember the ill-fated Google Glass, so with that in mind, Meta’s design wants to avoid such pitfalls that plagued earlier wearables. Orion combines AR and AI, and while it’s still far from looking like everyday glasses and poses risks of being too complex, it’s still a step toward something. Even Apple is still far behind.

Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, says that the Orion prototype features brain-computer interface technology, so that users can control it using neural signals. For now, though, the glasses prototype is not yet available for the market, but it’s one step toward future lightweight augmented reality glasses.

Besides, Meta also launched the pocket-friendly $299 Quest 3S VR headset, an affordable alternative to its more expensive models, aimed at competing with Apple’s $3,499 Vision Pro. The Quest 3S is also designed to be a more affordable option compared to its predecessor, the Quest 3, which retails at $499.

As for Meta AI, the popular AI chatbot that powers platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, we’re also getting a “Voice Mode.” It came just in time as OpenAI finished the rollout of ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode to paid users, and Meta even features popular celebrities like John Cena and Awkwafina to voice it.