At its recent Connect conference, Meta unveiled the Orion prototype, its most advanced AR glasses yet. These glasses are significant not just for their compact design, but also because Meta intends to bring them to consumers eventually.
Here’s a breakdown of the key details from a deep dive by Tested’s Norman Chan:
Lightweight Design with Big Plans:
- Weighing only 98 grams, Orion aims to feel more like regular glasses than bulky goggles. (Classic Ray-Ban Aviators weigh 30 grams for comparison.)
- While not quite sunglasses-light, it’s impressive considering Orion packs similar processing power to the much heavier (515 grams) Meta Quest 3 VR headset.
- Meta plans to further miniaturize the design for future consumer versions.
Impressive Optics, But Room for Improvement:
- Orion boasts a large (for its size) 70° field of view thanks to novel silicon carbide lenses.
- MicroLED projectors deliver high brightness (hundreds of thousands of nits) to compensate for light loss within the system. However, reaching usable outdoor brightness (around 3,000 nits) will require further advancements.
- Current resolution sits at 13 pixels-per-degree (PPD), which is lower than expected for AR glasses. Meta aims for 30 PPD in the consumer version, good for text tasks but not quite “retina” resolution (60 PPD).
Innovative Eye-Tracking:
- Unlike most headsets with a ring of infrared LEDs, Orion uses tiny, near-invisible LEDs embedded directly in the user’s field of view.
- Clever wiring disguised as a random pattern on the lens hides the power source for these LEDs.
Wireless Connectivity and Battery Life:
- A separate compute puck handles processing tasks, communicating with the glasses via a custom Wi-Fi 6 protocol focused on efficient data transfer (pulsing data rather than constant streaming) to minimize heat and power consumption.
- The puck boasts all-day battery life, while the glasses themselves currently last for up to three hours (similar to standalone VR headsets).
A Promising Future for AR:
- Compared to past research prototypes, Orion represents a significant step towards a commercially viable product.
- Meta aims to make future versions smaller, higher resolution, and more affordable (targeting a price point of around $1,500 and availability before 2030).
For a deeper dive into the technical details, check out Norman Chan’s full video.