MENLO PARK: Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday gave a peek at augmented reality eyewear he touted as the most advanced glasses in the world. The bulky, black-framed prototype called “Orion” was able to overlay holographic images on a wearer’s field of vision, and is ultimately intended to rival the smartphone. “The right way to look at Orion is as a time machine,” Zuckerberg said as he opened Meta’s annual gathering of software developers at the tech titan’s home campus in Silicon Valley. “These glasses exist; they are awesome, and they are a glimpse of a future that is going to be pretty exciting,” he said.

People have been slow to embrace headgear like Apple’s pricey Vision Pro or even the more affordable Meta Quest models to explore augmented or virtual reality. Meta is confident it can win them over by packing technology beefed up with artificial intelligence into stylish Ray-Ban glasses that can do things like answer questions about what you are looking at or act as a translator for conversations. Orion, which is being tested internally at Meta, pushes the technology further to let wearers overlay digital content on their view of the world. Zuckerberg has stated that he hopes to create an augmented reality device that would break Apple and Google’s hold on delivering apps and products to consumers through the smartphone. 

“With Orion, we are getting closer to achieving the dream... to create the next major computing platform that delivers a deep sense of presence, like you were right there with another person,” Zuckerberg said. “This is the physical world with holograms overlaid on it,” he said. Zuckerberg cautioned that Orion is a work in progress and years away as a product. His team is striving to make the glasses more streamlined, fashionable, and affordable, he said.

The glasses weigh about 100 grams, more than a regular pair but far less than the Meta Quest or Apple’s Vision Pro. Orion users, close together physically or not, can interact with one another by chatting or playing virtual games. Wristbands connected wirelessly to Orion sense slight gestures like finger-tapping to trigger tasks such as calling up and responding to messages. “You’re going to be able to tap your fingers and bring up a game of cards or chess or holographic ping pong or whatever it is that you want to do together,” Zuckerberg said. Orion also has eye tracking and uses voice as a method of control. — AFP