Meta Announced That Is Planning to Showcase Its Next-Gen AR Glasses Later This Year

After the reveal of Apple’s Vision Pro, and with the hype around AR and mixed reality, Meta decided to take the next step with its AR glasses project. Zuck and Co. will unveil their next-generation AR glasses prototype at the company’s Connect conference later in 2024.

A recent report by Business Insider stated that Meta will look to provide a live demo to showcase its advancements in AR tech, thus the glasses won’t be commercially available this year.

According to Business Insider:

“The company’s first version of what’s considered “true” AR glasses, an internal project referred to as Orion, is poised to be revealed this fall, most likely during Meta’s annual Connect conference for third-party developers. The AR team is also being pushed to have the high-tech glasses demoed during Connect, so there’s internal pressure to ensure a high level of performance, according to two people familiar with the plans.”

Meta has been working on that project for several years and has provided various glimpses at the progress of its AR glasses, along the way.

In 2023, the CTO of Meta, Andrew Bosworth stated that the company’s AR glasses prototype is “significantly advanced”, and that he expects to see some developers get their hands on a pair in the next year. Thus, at the same time, Andrew Bosworth stated also that the device is still too costly for a consumer product at this stage, which is why Meta will be focusing its efforts moving forward, to reduce the price ahead of a planned consumer launch in 2027.

More specifically, Meta is very confident that it has already a working version of AR wearable, and after Apple gained momentum in the space, Meta will also be very wary of letting it gain too much presence, and this is the reason why it’s now looking to show off its glasses and progress.

Meta’s Orion glasses will reportedly be a separate product from its current Ray Ban Stories glasses; thus, they’ll likely be more compact than the snow goggle-like Vision Pro headset.

Besides, according to an unnamed Meta insider, the current working version of the device is visible in the below image that, Mark Zuckerberg posted on Instagram recently.

The image shows more than ten different versions of glasses and headsets within a frame, most probably they are samples of  Meta’s AR device.

Remarkably, the planned demonstration also comes after Mark Zuckerberg reviewed recently the Vision Pro himself, and found that (shockingly), Meta’s Quest Pro headset is already a better option for mixed reality use.

According to Zuckerberg:

“I expected that Quest would be the better value for most people since it’s really good and it’s like seven times less expensive. But after using it, I don’t just think Quest is the better value. I think that Quest is the better product, period.”

Zuckerberg noted that the Quest unit is better than Vision Pro for playing games, hanging out with friends, and working out, along with other interesting functions. The CEO and Founder of Meta also stated that the Quest 3 was lighter and more comfortable to wear, and was superior in every way, despite the Vision Pro’s high price tag.

If we emphasize the price of the AR headset, it does make sense why Meta decided to make this a key focus. Overall, the next tech battleground looks increasingly like an AR race between the two huge brands. In the next couple of months, we will find out if Meta decides to create a more stylistic and cheaper version of the next-gen AR Glasses.

Sources: Social Media Today and Business Insider

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