Meta Orion, ‘true’ AR smart glasses could reportedly be unveiled later in 2024.

Meta is reportedly working on a new pair of smart glasses, and they could offer a true augmented reality (AR) experience. According to a report, Meta Orion’s true AR smart glasses are in advanced stages of development and may be unveiled and demonstrated at the company’s annual Connect event for developers. This device is said to be separate from its Ray-Ban smart glasses. In terms of certain functionality and form factor, it may be similar to Brilliant Lab’s Frame AI glasses, which were unveiled earlier this month.

According to a report from Business Insider, Meta’s real AR glasses project is called Orion, and that might as well be the name of the product. Citing unnamed sources, the report claims that the company’s AR team was forced to prepare the smart glasses in time for the Meta Connect event so that a “high level” of performance could be demonstrated. It was also said that the wearable device is unlikely to go on sale this year, even after it is ready to be demonstrated with an advanced prototype. The demo aims to create excitement about the tech giant’s product and capabilities, and to gauge people’s reaction to determine whether the product fits the market.

Separately, a report from The Verge claims that Meta’s first true AR glasses won’t be released until 2027. The report unveiled the company’s roadmap for AR and VR devices. A possible reason for the delay could be that the technology itself is not ready. No other details about the Orion smart glasses are known at this time. However, it’s unlikely to be similar to the company’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, which lack display features. The Meta Quest series comes closest to what enthusiasts should expect, but the headset is focused on virtual reality (VR) and only includes some AR experiences.

True AR smart glasses would instead be closer to the Apple Vision Pro or Frame AI Glasses, which would overlay elements of a digital display onto the real world. The Frame AI Glasses weigh less than 40g and feature two layers of lenses, with the outer being an Augmented Reality (AR) lens and the inner being an optional space to attach a prescription lens. The display inside the device is a micro-OLED panel and the whole setup uses magnets to hold components.

As for its features, the Frame AI glasses have visual recognition capabilities and can offer descriptions of the objects visible on the lens. It can also translate text in real-time, display nutritional details of food items, perform live web searches, and even generate images and place them in real-world settings using the AR lens. The company said the visual analytics feature and live translation are powered by OpenAI’s AI models, and Perplexity AI enables live web search.