Introducing Orion, our first true augmented reality glasses

Five years ago, we announced to the world that we were building AR glasses. We believe that people shouldn’t have to choose between a world of information at their fingertips and being present in the physical world around them.

That is why today we reveal OrionIn our opinion, the most advanced AR glasses ever made. Orion connects the physical and virtual worlds and puts people at the center so they can be more present, connected and confident in the world.

Why augmented reality glasses?

There are three main reasons why AR glasses are the key to the next big leap in human-centric computing.

• They enable digital experiences that aren’t limited by the boundaries of a smartphone screen. Large holographic displays let you use the physical world as a canvas, placing 2D and 3D content and experiences anywhere you want.
• They seamlessly integrate contextual AI that can sense and understand the world around you to anticipate and proactively respond to your needs.
• They are lightweight and great for indoor and outdoor use, and they allow participants to see each other’s faces, eyes and expressions.

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This is the lodestar our industry is working toward: a product that combines the convenience and immediacy of wearables with a large display, high-bandwidth input, and contextualized AI in a form that people enjoy wearing in their daily lives.

The development of smart glasses

The Ray-Ban Meta glasses have demonstrated the importance of giving people hands-free access to important parts of their digital lives. We can talk to an intelligent AI assistant, connect with friends and capture the moments that matter – all without ever having to pull out a phone.

But while Ray-Ban Meta opened up a whole new category of display-less eyewear with AI technology, the XR industry has long dreamed of true AR glasses – a product that combines the benefits of a large holographic display and personalized AI support in a comfortable, 24/7 wearable form factor. Orion is taking on the challenge.

Groundbreaking AR display in a form never seen before

We’ve worked hard for years to harness the incredible spatial experiences enabled by VR and MR headsets and miniaturize the technology needed to deliver those experiences in a lightweight, stylish headset.

Determining the form factor, delivering holographic displays, developing compelling AR experiences, creating new paradigms of human-computer interaction (HCI) – and doing it all in one cohesive product – is one of the hardest challenges our industry has ever faced. It was so demanding that we thought we had less than a 10% chance of pulling it off successfully. Until now.

Orion is a masterpiece of miniaturization – tThe components are packed to within a fraction of a millimeter. Dozens of innovations were needed to give the design a contemporary shape that you can wear comfortably every day.

Orion has the largest field of view in the smallest AR glasses form factor yet. This field of view enables truly immersive use cases for Orion, from multitasking windows and entertainment on large screens to life-sized holograms of people – all digital content that can blend seamlessly into your view of the physical world.

What makes Orion unique, however, is that it is clearly glasses, both visually and haptically – complete with transparent lenses. Unlike MR headsets or other AR glasses today, you can still see other people’s eyes and expressions, allowing you to be present and share the experience with the people around you.

Augmented Reality Experiences

Of course, like any hardware, Orion is only as good as the things you can do with it. And while it’s early days, the experiences Orion offers are an exciting taste of what’s to come.

We have our intelligent assistant, Meta-AIruns on Orion. It understands what you see in the physical world and can help you with useful visualizations. So you can open your fridge and ask for a recipe based on what’s inside. Or you can make a video call with a friend while adjusting a digital family calendar while doing the dishes.

You can make a hands-free video call to chat with friends and family in real time, and you can stay connected via WhatsApp and Messenger to view and send messages. No need to take out your phone, unlock it, find the right app, and tell your friend you’re late for dinner – you can do it all through your glasses.

Our teams are evolving the experiences available through Orion today to create new immersive social experiences, and we can’t wait to share with you what’s coming next.

A targeted product prototype

While Orion won’t make it into consumer hands, rest assured: this is not a research prototype. It’s one of the most sophisticated product prototypes we’ve ever developed, and truly representative of something that could be shipped to consumers. Rather than rushing to put it on shelves, we’ve decided to focus on internal development first. This means we can build quickly and keep pushing the boundaries of the technology, helping us develop an even better consumer product faster.

What’s next

Starting today at Connect and throughout the year, we’re giving Meta employees and select external audiences access to our Orion product prototype so our development team can learn, iterate, and work on our line of consumer AR glasses that we plan to ship in the near future.

And now that we have shared Orion with the world, let’s focus on a few things:

• Optimize AR display quality to make images even sharper
• Optimizations wherever possible to make the form factor even smaller
• Building on a large scale to make them more affordable

Over the next few years, you can expect to see new devices from us that build on our research and development efforts. Orion isn’t just a window into the future – it’s a glimpse into the very real possibilities that are within reach today. From Ray-Ban Meta glasses to Orion, we’ve seen how much good can come from empowering people to be more present and empowered in the physical world while taking advantage of everything the digital world has to offer.